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MARM    LISA 


BY 


KATE    DOUGLAS    WIGGIN 


The  eternal-womanly 
Ever  leadeth  us  on. 
GOETHE'S  Faust. 


BOSTON   AND   NEW  YORK 
HOUGHTON,  MIFFLIN  AND   COMPANY 

(€fa  Rtoersibe  ]dit££,  Cambrib0e 


Copyright,  1896, 
BY  KATE   DOUGLAS   RIGGS. 

All  rights  reserved. 


GIFT 


The  Riverside,  Press,  Cambridge,  Mass.,  U.  S.  A. 
Electrotyped  and  Printed  by  H.  O.  Houghton  &  Co. 


EDUC. 

UBRARY 


CONTENTS. 


I.   EDEN  PLACE 1 

II.   MISTRESS  MARY'S  GARDEN      .        .        .  12 

III.  A  FAMILY  POLYGON 23 

IV.  MARM  LISA  is  TRANSPLANTED        .        .  37 
V.   How  THE  NEW  PLANT  GREW    ...  47 

VI.   FROM  GRUBB  TO  BUTTERFLY  61 

VII.   THE  COMET  AND  THE  FIXED  STAR    .        ,  70 
VIII.   THE  YOUNG    MINISTER'S   PSYCHOLOGICAL 

OBSERVATIONS 84 

IX.   MARM  LISA'S  QUEST   .        .        .        .        .96 

X.   THE  TWINS  JOIN  THE  CELESTIALS       '  .  107 

XI.  RHODA  FREES  HER  MIND    .        .        .        .118 

XII.   FLOTSAM  AND  JETSAM     ....  132 

XIII.  LEAVES  FROM  MISTRESS  MARY'S  GARDEN  148 

XIV.  MORE  LEAVES 161 

XV.   "THE  FEAST  o'  THE  BABE"  ...  174 

XVI.   CLEANSING  FIRES                      '  .        .        .  183 


280 


MARM   LISA. 
I. 

EDEN   PLACE. 

EDEN  PLACE  was  a  short  street  running 
at  right  angles  with  Eden  Square,  a  most 
unattractive  and  infertile  triangle  of  ground 
in  a  most  unattractive  but  respectable  quar 
ter  of  a  large  city.  It  was  called  a  square 
not  so  much,  probably,  because  it  was  trian 
gular  in  shape  as  because  it  was  hardly  large 
enough  to  be  designated  as  a  park.  As  to 
its  being  called  "Eden,"  the  origin  of  that 
qualifying  word  is  enveloped  in  mystery; 
but  it  is  likely  that  the  enthusiastic  persons 
who  projected  it  saw  visions  and  dreamed 
dreams  of  green  benches  under  umbrageous 
trees,  of  a  green  wire  fence,  ever  green,  and 
of  plots  of  blossoming  flowers  filling  the 
grateful  air  with  unaccustomed  fragrance. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  trees  had  always 
been  stunted  and  stubby,  the  plants  had 


^  MARM  LISA. 

never  been  tended,  and  all  the  paint  had 
been  worn  off  the  benches  by  successive 
groups  of  workingmen  out  of  work.  As  for 
the  wire  fence,  it  had  been  much  used  as 
a  means  of  ingress  and  egress  by  the  chil 
dren  of  the  neighborhood,  who  preferred  it 
to  any  of  the  gateways,  which  they  consid 
ered  hopelessly  unimaginative  and  common 
place,  offering  no  resistance  to  the  budding 
man  of  valor  or  woman  of  ambition. 

Eden  Place  was  frequented  mostly  by  the 
children,  who  found  it  an  admirable  spot  to 
squabble,  to  fight,  and  to  dig  up  the  hapless 
earth,  and  after  them,  by  persons  out  of 
suits  with  fortune.  These  (generally  men) 
adorned  the  shabby  benches  at  all  times, 
sleeping,  smoking,  reading  newspapers,  or 
tracing  uncertain  patterns  in  the  gravel 
with  a  stick,  —  patterns  as  uncertain  and 
aimless  as  themselves.  There  were  fewer 
women,  because  the  unemployed  woman  of 
this  class  has  an  old-fashioned  habit,  or  in 
stinct,  of  seeking  work  by  direct  assault; 
the  method  of  the  male  being  rather  to  sit 
on  a  bench  and  discuss  the  obstacles,  the 
injustices,  and  the  unendurable  insults 
heaped  by  a  plutocratic  government  in  the 
path  of  the  honest  son  of  toil. 


EDEN  PLACE.  3 

The  corner  house  of  Eden  Place  was  a 
little  larger  than  its  neighbors  in  the  same 
row.  Its  side  was  flanked  by  a  sand-lot, 
and  a  bay  window,  with  four  central  panes 
of  blue  glass,  was  the  most  conspicuous  fea 
ture  of  its  architecture.  In  the  small  front 
yard  was  a  microscopic  flower-bed;  there 
were  no  flowers  in  it,  but  the  stake  that 
held  up  a  stout  plant  in  the  middle  was  sur 
mounted  by  a  neat  wooden  sign  bearing  the 
inscription,  "No  Smoking  on  these  Pre 
mises."  The  warning  seemed  superfluous,  as 
no  man  standing  in  the  garden  could  have 
put  his  pipe  in  his  mouth  without  grazing 
either  the  fence  or  the  house,  but  the  owner 
of  the  "premises"  possibly  wished  to  warn 
the  visitor  at  the  very  threshold. 

All  the  occupied  houses  in  Eden  Place 
were  cheerful  and  hospitable  in  their  ap 
pearance,  and  were  marked  by  an  air  of 
liveliness  and  good-fellowship.  Bed  linen 
hung  freely  from  all  the  windows,  for  there 
was  no  hard-and-fast  law  about  making  up 
beds  at  any  special  hour,  though  a  remnant 
of  superstition  still  existed  that  it  was  a 
good  thing  to  make  up  a  bed  before  you 
slept  in  it.  There  were  more  women  on 
their  respective  front  steps,  and  fewer  in 


HARM  LISA. 

their  respective  kitchens,  in  Eden  Place 
than  in  almost  any  other  locality  in  the  city. 
That  they  lived  for  the  most  part  in  close 
and  friendly  relations  could  be  seen  from 
the  condition  of  the  fences  between  the 
front  yards,  whose  upper  rails  fairly  sagged 
with  the  weight  of  gossip. 

One  woman,  living  in  the  middle  of  the 
row,  evidently  possessed  somewhat  different 
views,. for  she  had  planted  vines  on  each  of 
her  division  fences,  rented  her  parlor  to  a 
lodger  who  only  slept  there,  kept  all  her 
front  curtains  drawn,  and  stayed  in  the 
back  of  her  house.  Such  retribution  as 
could  legally  be  wreaked  upon  this  offensive 
and  exclusive  person  was  daily  administered 
by  her  two  neighbors,  who  stood  in  their 
doors  on  either  side  and  conversed  across  her 
house  and  garden  with  much  freedom  and 
exuberance.  They  had  begged  the  landlord 
to  induce  her  to  take  up  her  abode  else 
where,  but  as  she  was  the  only  tenant  who 
paid  her  rent  regularly  he  refused  to  part 
with  her. 

Any  one  passing  the  "No  Smoking  "  sign 
and  entering  the  front  door  of  Mrs.  Grubb's 
house,  on  the  corner,  would  have  turned  off 
the  narrow  uncarpeted  hall  into  the  princi- 


EDEN  PLACE.  5 

pal  room,  and  if  he  were  an  observing  per 
son  would  have  been  somewhat  puzzled  by 
its  appearance.  There  were  seven  or  eight 
long  benches  on  one  side,  yet  it  had  not  the 
slightest  resemblance  to  a  schoolroom.  The 
walls  were  adorned  with  a  variety  of  inter 
esting  objects.  There  was  a  chart  showing 
a  mammoth  human  hand,  the  palm  marked 
with  myriads  of  purple  lines.  There  were 
two  others  displaying  respectively  the  inte 
rior  of  the  human  being  in  the  pink-and- 
white  purity  of  total  abstinence,  and  the 
same  interior  after  years  of  intemperance 
had  done  their  fatal  work;  a  most  valuable 
chart  this  last,  and  one  that  had  quenched 
the  thirst  of  many  a  man. 

The  words  "Poverty  Must  Go"  were 
wrought  in  evergreen  letters  over  the  bay 
window,  and  various  texts  were  printed 
in  red  and  black  and  tacked  to  the  wall 
in  prominent  places.  These  were  such 
as:  — 

"  To  be  a  Flesh- Eater  is  to  be  a  Shedder 
of  Blood  and  a  Destroyer  of  God's  Inno 
cent  Creatures." 

"Now  that  Man  has  Begun  to  Ascend  in 
the  Scale  of  Being  let  Woman  Reach  Down 
a  Strong,  Tender  Hand  and  Aid  him  in  his 


MARM  LISA. 

Struggle  for  Moral  and  Spiritual  Eleva 
tion." 

"Let  the  Pleasure  Field  be  as  Large 
as  Possible.  Pains  and  Fears  Lessen 
Growth." 

"I  Believe  that  to  Burden,  to  Bond,  to 
Tax,  to  Tribute,  to  Impoverish,  to  Grind, 
to  Pillage,  to  Oppress,  to  Afflict,  to  Plun 
der,  to  Vampire  the  Life  Laboring  to  Create 
Wealth,  is  the  Unpardonable  Sin." 

Over  the  mantel-shelf  was  a  seaweed  pic 
ture  in  a  frame  of  shells,  bearing  the  in 
scription,  "Unity  Hall.  Meeting  -  Place 
of  the  Order  of  Present  Perfection."  On 
a  table,  waiting  to  be  hung  in  place,  was 
an  impressive  sort  of  map  about  four  feet 
square.  This,  like  many  of  the  other  orna 
ments  in  the  room,  was  a  trifle  puzzling, 
and  seemed  at  first,  from  its  plenitude  of 
colored  spots,  to  be  some  species  of  moral 
propaganda  in  a  state  of  violent  eruption. 
It  proved,  however,  on  closer  study,  to  be 
an  ingenious  pictorial  representation  of  the 
fifty  largest  cities  of  the  world,  with  the 
successful  establishment  of  various  regener 
ating  ideas  indicated  by  colored  disks  of 
paper  neatly  pasted  on  the  surface.  The 
key  in  the  right-hand  corner  read :  — 


EDEN  PLACE.  7 

Temperance  ....     Blue. 

Single  Tax     ....     Green. 

Cremation      ....     Orange. 

Abolition  of  War    .      .     Red. 

Vegetarianism     .      .     .     Purple. 

Hypnotism     ....     Yellow. 

Dress  Reform     .     .     .     Black. 

Social  Purity.     .     .     .     Blush  Rose. 

Theosophy      ....     Silver. 

Religious  Liberty    .     .     Magenta. 

Emancipation  of  )  (  Crushed  Straw - 

Woman  i  (  berry. 

A  small  gold  star,  added  to  the  colored 
spot,  hovering  over  the  name  of  a  city,  was 
explained,  in  the  lower  left-hand  corner,  as 
denoting  the  fact  that  the  Eldorado  face 
powder  was  exclusively  used  there,  and  that 
S.  Cora  Grubb  was  the  sole  agent  for  the 
Pacific  coast. 

Joseph's  coat  faded  into  insignificance  in 
comparison  with  the  city  of  Mrs.  Grubb 's 
present  residence,  which  appeared  to  be  a 
perfect  hot-bed  of  world-saving  ideas,  and 
was  surrounded  by  such  a  halo  of  spots  that 
it  would  have  struck  the  tmregenerate  ob 
server  as  an  undesirable  place  in  which  to 
live,  unless  one  wished  to  be  broken  daily 
on  the  rack  of  social  progress. 


8 


MARM  LISA. 


This  front  room  was  Mrs.  Grubb's  only 
parlor.  The  seven  benches  were  rather  in 
the  way  and  seemingly  unnecessary,  as  the 
lady  attended  meetings  morning,  noon,  and 
night  in  halls  hired  for  that  purpose;  but 
they  gave  her  a  feeling  of  security,  as,  in 
case  one  of  her  less  flourishing  societies 
should  be  ejected  from  its  hall,  or  in  case 
she  should  wake  up  in  the  middle  of  the 
night  and  want  to  hold  a  meeting  of  any 
club  when  all  the  halls  were  closed,  the 
benches  in  the  parlor  would  make  it  possible 
without  a  moment's  loss  of  time. 

The  room  connecting  with  this  was  the 
family  banquet-hall  and  kitchen  in  one,  and 
as  Mrs.  Grubb's  opinions  on  diet  were  ex 
tremely  advanced,  it  amply  served  the  pur 
pose. 

There  were  three  bedrooms  upstairs,  and 
the  whole  establishment  was  rather  untidy 
in  its  aspect;  but,  though  it  might  have 
been  much  cleaner,  it  is  only  fair  to  say 
that  it  might  also  have  been  much  dirtier. 

The  house  was  deserted.  The  only  sound 
came  from  the  back  yard,  and  it  was  the 
echo  of  children's  voices.  It  was  not  at  all 
a  merry  prattle ;  it  was  a  steady  uproar  in 
terrupted  by  occasional  shrieks  and  yells,  a 


EDEN  PLACE.  9 

clatter  of  falling  blocks,  beatings  of  a  tin 
pan,  a  scramble  of  feet,  a  tussle,  with  con 
fusion  of  blows  and  thumps,  and  then  gen 
erally  a  temporary  lull  in  the  proceedings, 
evidently  brought  about  by  some  sort  of 
outside  interference.  If  you  had  pushed 
open  the  wire  door,  you  would  have  seen 
two  children  of  four  or  five  years  disporting 
themselves  in  a  sand-heap.  One  was  a  boy 
and  one  a  girl,  and  though  they  were  not  at 
all  alike  in  feature  or  complexion,  there 
was  an  astonishing  resemblance  between 
them  in  size,  in  figure,  in  voice,  in  expres 
sion,  and,  apparently,  in  disposition. 

Sitting  on  a  bench,  watching  them  as  a 
dog  watches  its  master's  coat,  was  a  girl  of 
some  undeterminable  age,  —  perhaps  of  ten 
or  twelve  years.  She  wore  a  shapeless  stout 
gingham  garment,  her  shoes  were  many 
sizes  too  large  for  her,  and  the  laces  were 
dangling.  Her  nerveless  hands  and  long- 
arms  sprawled  in  her  lap  as  if  they  had  no 
volition  in  them.  She  sat  with  her  head 
slightly  drooping,  her  knees  apart,  and  her 
feet  aimlessly  turned  in.  Her  lower  lip 
hung  a  little,  but  only  a  little,  loosely.  She 
looked  neither  at  earth  nor  at  sky,  but 
straight  at  the  two  belligerents,  with  whose 


MARM  LISA. 


bloodthirsty  play  she  was  obliged  to  inter 

fere  at  intervals.     She  held  in  her  lap  a 

doll  made  of  a  roll  of  brown  paper,  with  a 

waist   and   a   neck   indicated    by   gingham 

strings.     Pieces  of  raveled  rope  were  pinned 

on  the  head  part,  but  there  was  no  other 

attempt   to    assist    the    imagination.     She 

raised  her  dull  eyes  ;  they  seemed  to  hold  in 

their  depths  a  knowledge  of  aloofness  from 

the  happier  world,  and  their  dumb  sorrow 

pierced  your  very  heart,  while  it  gave  you 

an     irresistible    sense     of     aversion.     She 

smiled,  but  the  smile  only  gave  you  a  new 

thrill;  it  was  vacant  and  had  no  joy  in  it, 

rather  an  uncommunicable  grief.     As  she 

sat  there  with  her  battered  doll,  she  was  to 

the  superficial  eye  repulsive,  but  to  the  eye 

that  pierces  externals  she  was  almost  majes 

tic  in  her  mysterious  loneliness  and  separa 

tion. 

The  steam-whistle  of  a  factory  near  by 
blew  a  long  note  for  twelve  o'clock,  and  she 
rose  from  her  bench,  took  the  children  by 
the  hand,  and  dragged  them,  kindly  but 
firmly,  up  the  steps  into  the  kitchen.  She 
laid  her  doll  under  a  towel,  but,  with  a  fur 
tive  look  at  the  boy,  rolled  it  in  a  cloth  and 
tucked  it  under  her  skirt  at  the  waist-line. 


EDEN  PLACE.  11 

She  then  washed  the  children's  faces,  tied 
on  their  calico  bibs,  and  pushed  them  up  to 
the  pine  table.  While  they  battered  the 
board  and  each  other  with  spoons  and  tin 
mugs,  she  went  automatically  to  a  closet, 
took  a  dish  of  cold  porridge  and  turned  it 
into  three  bowls,  poured  milk  over  it,  spread 
three  thick  slices  of  wheat  bread  with 
molasses  from  a  cup,  and  sat  down  at  the 
table.  After  the  simple  repast  was  over, 
she  led  the  still  reluctant  (constitutionally 
reluctant)  twins  up  the  staircase  and  put 
them,  shrieking,  on  a  bed;  left  the  room, 
locking  the  door  behind  her  in  a  perfunc 
tory  sort  of  way  as  if  it  were  an  every-day 
occurrence,  crouched  down  on  the  rug  out 
side,  and,  leaning  her  head  back  against 
the  wall,  took  her  doll  from  under  her  skirt, 
for  this  was  her  playtime,  her  hour  of  ease. 
Poor  little  "Marm  Lisa,"  as  the  neigh 
bors  called  her  !  She  had  all  the  sorrows 
and  cares  of  maternity  with  none  of  its  com 
pensating  joys. 


II. 


"  '  Mistress  Mary,  quite  contrary, 

How  does  your  garden  grow  ?  ' 

'  With  silver  bells  and  cockle  shells, 

And  little  maids  all  in  a  row/  " 

MISTKESS  MARY'S  Garden  did  grow 
remarkably  well,  and  it  was  wonderfully 
attractive  considering  the  fact  that  few 
persons  beside  herself  saw  anything  but 
weeds  in  it. 

She  did  not  look  in  the  least  a  "con 
trary  "  Miss  Mary,  as  she  stood  on  a  certain 
flight  of  broad  wooden  steps  on  a  sunshiny 
morning;  yet  she  was  undoubtedly  having 
her  own  way  and  living  her  own  life  in  spite 
of  remonstrances  from  bevies  of  friends, 
who  saw  no  shadow  of  reason  or  common 
sense  in  her  sort  of  gardening.  It  would 
have  been  foolish  enough  for  a  young  woman 
with  a  small  living  income  to  cultivate  roses 
or  violets  or  lavender,  but  this  would  at 
least  have  been  poetic,  while  the  arduous 


MISTRESS   MARY'S    GARDEN.  13 

tilling  of  a  soil  where  the  only  plants  were 
'little  people  "all  in  a  row"  was  something 
beyond  credence. 

The  truth  about  Mistress  Mary  lay  some 
where  in  the  via  media  between  the  criti 
cisms  of  her  skeptical  friends  and  the  en 
comiums  of  her  enthusiastic  admirers.  In 
forsaking  society  temporarily  she  had  no 
rooted  determination  to  forsake  it  eternally, 
and  if  the  incense  of  love  which  her  neo 
phytes  forever  burned  at  her  shrine  savored 
somewhat  of  adoration,  she  disarmed  jeal 
ousy  by  frankly  avowing  her  unworthiness 
and  lack  of  desire  to  wear  the  martyr's 
crown.  Her  happiness  in  her  chosen  voca 
tion  made  it  impossible,  she  argued,  to  re 
gard  her  as  a  person  worthy  of  canonization ; 
though  the  neophytes  were  always  sighing  to 

' '  have  that  little  head  of  hers, 
Painted  upon  a  background  of  pale  gold." 

She  had  been  born  with  a  capacity  for  help 
ing  lame  dogs  over  stiles;  accordingly,  her 
pathway,  from  a  very  early  age,  had  been 
bestrewn  with  stiles,  and  processions  of 
lame  dogs  ever  limping  towards  them.  Her 
vocation  had  called  her  so  imperiously  that 
disobedience  was  impossible.  It  is  all  very 


14  HARM  LISA. 

well  if  a  certain  work  asks  one  in  a  quiet 
and  courteous  manner  to  come  and  do  it, 
when  one  has  time  and  inclination;  but  it 
is  quite  another  matter  if  it  coaxes  one  so 
insistently  that  one  can  do  nothing  else 
properly,  and  so  succumbs  finally  to  the 
persuasive  voice.  Still,  the  world  must  be 
mothered  somehow,  and  there  are  plenty  of 
women  who  lack  the  time  or  the  strength, 
the  gift  or  the  desire,  the  love  or  the  pa 
tience,  to  do  their  share.  This  gap  seems 
to  be  filled  now  and  then  by  some  inspired 
little  creature  like  Mistress  Mary,  with 
enough  potential  maternity  to  mother  an 
orphan  asylum;  too  busy,  too  absorbed,  too 
radiantly  absent-minded,  to  see  a  husband 
in  any  man,  but  claiming  every  child  in  the 
universe  as  her  very  own.  There  was  never 
anywhere  an  urchin  so  dirty,  so  ragged,  so 
naughty,  that  it  could  not  climb  into  Mis 
tress  Mary's  lap,  and  from  thence  into  her 
heart.  The  neophytes  partook  of  her  zeal 
in  greater  or  less  degree,  and  forsaking  all 
probability  of  lovers  (though  every  one  of 
them  was  young  and  pretty),  they  tied  on 
their  white  aprons  and  clave  only  unto  her. 
Daily  intercourse  with  a  couple  of  hundred 
little  street  Arabs  furnished  a  field  for  the 


MISTRESS   MARY'S    GARDEN.  15 

practice   of    considerable   feminine   virtue, 
and  in  reality  the  woman's  kingdom  at  the 
top  of  the  broad  wooden  steps  was  a  great  \ 
''culture  engine"  of  spiritual  motherhood. 

It  certainly  was  a  very  merry  place,  and 
if  its  presiding  geniuses  were  engaged  in 
conscious  philanthropy  the  blighting  hall 
mark  was  conspicuous  by  its  absence.  Peals 
of  laughter  rang  through  the  rooms;  smil 
ing  faces  leaned  from  the  upstairs  windows, 
bowing  greeting  to  the  ashman,  the  scissors - 
grinder,  the  Italian  and  Chinese  vegetable- 
venders,  the  rag-sack-and-bottle  man,  and 
the  other  familiar  figures  of  the  neighbor 
hood. 

It  was  at  the  end  of  a  happy,  helpful  day 
that  Mistress  Mary  stood  in  the  front  door 
and  looked  out  over  her  kingdom. 

There  was  a  rosy  Swedish  girl  sitting  on 
the  floor  of  a  shop  window  opposite  and 
washing  the  glass.  She  had  moved  the 
fresh  vegetables  aside  and  planted  herself 
in  the  midst  of  them.  There  she  sat  among 
the  cabbages  and  turnips  and  other  sweet 
things  just  out  of  the  earth;  piles  of  deli 
cate  green  lettuce  buds,  golden  carrots 
bursting  into  feathery  tops,  ruddy  beets, 
and  pink-cheeked  potatoes.  It  was  pretty 


1G  HARM  LISA. 

to  see  the  honest  joy  of  her  work  and  the 
interest  of  her  parted  lips,  when,  after  pol 
ishing  the  glass,  it  shone  as  crystal  clear  as 
her  own  eyes.  A  milkman  stopping  to  look 
at  her  (and  small  wonder  that  he  did) 
poured  nearly  a  quart  of  cream  on  the 
ground,  and  two  children  ran  squabbling 
under  the  cart  to  see  if  they  could  catch  the 
drippings  in  their  mouths.  They  were 
Atlantic  and  Pacific  Simon  son,  with  Marm 
Lisa,  as  usual,  at  their  heels.  She  had 
found  her  way  to  this  corner  twice  of  late, 
because  things  happened  there  marvelous 
enough  to  stir  even  her  heavy  mind.  There 
was  a  certain  flight  of  narrow,  rickety  steps 
leading  to  a  rickety  shanty,  and  an  adjacent 
piece  of  fence  with  a  broad  board  on  top. 
Flower-pots  had  once  stood  there,  but  they 
were  now  lying  on  the  ground  below,  broken 
into  fragments.  Marm  Lisa  could  push  the 
twins  up  to  this  vantage-ground,  and  crawl 
up  after  them.  Once  ensconced,  if  they 
had  chosen  the  right  time  of  day,  interesting 
events  were  sure  to  be  forthcoming.  In  a 
large  playground  within  range  of  vision, 
there  were  small  children,  as  many  in  num 
ber  as  the  sands  of  the  seashore.  At  a 
given  moment,  a  lovely  angel  with  black 


MISTRESS   MARTS    GARDEN.  17 

hair  and  a  scarlet  apron  would  ring  a  large 
bell.  Simultaneously,  a  lovely  angel  with 
brown  hair  and  a  white  apron  would  fly  to 
the  spot,  and  the  children  would  go  through 
a  mysterious  process  like  the  swarming  of 
bees  around  a  queen.  Slowly,  reluctantly, 
painfully,  the  swarm  settled  itself  into  lines 
in  conformance  with  some  hidden  law  or 
principle  unknown  to  Marm  Lisa.  Then, 
when  comparative  order  had  been  evolved 
from  total  chaos,  the  most  beautiful  angel, 
of  all  would  appear  in  a  window ;  and  the 
reason  she  always  struck  the  on-lookers  as 
a  being  of  beauty  and  majesty  was  partly, 
perhaps,  because  her  head  seemed  to  rise 
from  a  cloud  of  white  (which  was  in  reality 
only  a  fichu  of  white  mull),  and  partly  be 
cause  she  always  wore  a  slender  fillet  of 
steel  to  keep  back  the  waves  of  her  fair 
hair.  It  had  a  little  point  in  front,  and 
when  the  sun  shone  on  its  delicate,  fine-cut 
prisms  it  glittered  like  a  halo.  After  the 
appearance  of  this  heavenly  apparition  the 
endless  lines  of  little  people  wended  their 
way  into  the  building  and  enchanting  strains 
of  music  were  wafted  through  the  open  win 
dows,  supplemented  sometimes  by  the  in 
spiring  rattle  of  drums  and  the  blare  of  in- 


18  MA  KM  LISA. 

struments  hitherto  inclissolubly  associated 
with  street  parades. 

Who?  Why?  Whence?  Whither? 
What  for?  These  were  some  of  the  ques 
tions  that  assailed  Marm  Lisa's  mind,  but 
in  so  incoherent  a  form  that  she  left  them, 
with  all  other  questions,  unanswered.  At 
lantic  and  Pacific  were  curious,  too,  but 
other  passions  held  greater  sway  with  them ; 
for  when  the  children  disappeared  and  the 
music  ceased,  they  called  loudly  for  more, 
and  usually  scratched  and  pinched  Marm 
Lisa  as  they  were  lifted  down  from  the 
fence ;  not  seeing  clearly  how  anybody  else 
could  be  held  answerable  for  the  cessation 
of  the  entertainment,  and  scratches  and 
pinches  being  the  only  remedial  agencies 
that  suggested  themselves. 

On  this  particular  occasion  there  were  no 
bells,  no  music,  and  no  mysterious  swarm 
ing;  but  the  heavenly  apparition  sat  on  the 
broad  steps.  Yes,  it  was  she!  Blue-gray 
eyes  with  darker  lashes  sweeping  the  warm 
ivory  of  her  cheeks,  sweet  true  lips  forever 
parting  in  kind  words,  the  white  surplice 
and  apron,  and  the  rememberable  steel  fil 
let.  She  had  a  little  child  in  her  lap  (she 
generally  had,  by  the  way),  and  there  were 


MISTRESS   MARY'S    GARDEN.  19 

other  tots  clinging  fondly  to  her  motherly 
skirts.  Marm  Lisa  stood  at  the  foot  of  the 
steps,  a  twin  glued  to  each  side.  She 
stared  at  Mistress  Mary  with  open-mouthed 
wonder  not  unmixed  with  admiration. 

"That  same  odd  child,"  thought  Mary. 
"I  have  seen  her  before,  and  always  with 
those  two  little  vampires  hanging  to  her 
skirts.  She  looks  a  trifle  young  to  have 
such  constant  family  cares ;  perhaps  we  had 
better 'lend  a  hand.'" 

"Won't  you  come  in?"  she  asked,  with 
a  smile  that  would  have  drawn  a  sane  per 
son  up  the  side  of  a  precipice. 

Atlantic  turned  and  ran,  but  the  other 
two  stood  their  ground. 

"Won't  you  come  up  and  see  us?"  she 
repeated.  "There  are  some  fishes  swim 
ming  in  a  glass  house;  come  and  look  at 
them." 

Marm  Lisa  felt  herself  dragged  up  the 
steps  as  by  invisible  chains,  and  even  Pacific 
did  not  attempt  to  resist  the  irresistible. 
Atlantic,  finding  himself  deserted  by  his 
comrades,  gave  a  yell  of  baffled  rage,  and 
scrambled  up  the  steps  after  them.  But 
his  tears  dried  instantly  at  the  sight  of  the 
room  into  which  they  were  ushered;  as 


20  MARM  LISA. 

large  as  any  of  the  halls  in  which  aunt  Cora 
spent  her  days,  and  how  much  more  beauti 
ful  !  They  roved  about,  staring  at  the  aqua 
rium,  and  gazing  at  the  rocking-horse,  the 
piano,  the  drum,  the  hanging  gardens,  with 
speechless  astonishment.  Lisa  shambled  at 
their  heels,  looking  at  nothing  very  long; 
and  when  Rhoda  (one  of  the  neophytes), 
full  of  sympathy  at  the  appearance  of  the 
wild,  forlorn,  unkempt  trio,  sat  herself 
down  on  a  sofa  and  gathered  them  about 
a  wonderful  picture-book,  Mistress  Mary's 
keen  eyes  saw  that  Lisa's  gaze  wandered  in 
a  few  minutes.  Presently  she  crept  over 
the  floor  towards  a  table,  and,  taking  a 
string  from  it,  began  to  blow  it  to  and  fro 
as  it  hung  from  her  fingers.  Rhoda 's  glance 
followed  Mary's;  but  it  was  only  a  fleeting 
one,  for  the  four  eyes  of  the  twins  were 
riveted  on  hers  with  devouring  eagerness, 
while  they  waited  for  her  explanation  of  the 
pictures.  At  the  end  of  half  an  hour,  in 
which  the  children  had  said  little  or  nothing, 
they  had  contrived  to  reveal  so  many  sor 
rowful  and  startling  details  of  their  mental, 
moral,  and  physical  endowment  that  Mis 
tress  Mary  put  on  her  hat. 

"I  will  go  home  with  them,"  she  said. 


MJ  STRESS   MARTS    GARDEN.  21 

"There  is  plenty  of  work  here  for  some 
body;  I  could  almost  hope  that  it  won't 
prove  ours." 

"It  will,"  replied  Khoda,  with  a  stifled 
sigh.  "There  is  an  old  Eastern  legend 
about  the  black  camel  that  comes  and  lies 
down  before  the  door  of  him  upon  whom 
Heaven  is  going  to  lay  her  chastening  hand. 
Every  time  I  have  seen  that  awful  trio  on 
the  fence-top,  they  were  fairly  surrounded 
by  black  camels  in  my  imagination.  Mis 
tress  Mary,  I  am  not  sure  but  that,  in  self- 
defense,  we  ought  to  become  a  highly  spe 
cialized  Something.  We  are  now  a  home, 
a  mother,  a  nursery,  a  labor  bureau,  a 
divorce  court,  a  registry  of  appeals,  a  soup 
kitchen,  an  advisory  board,  and  a  police 
force.  If  we  take  her,  what  shall  we  be? " 

"We  will  see  first  where  she  belongs," 
smiled  Mary.  (Nobody  could  help  smiling 
at  Ehoda.)  "Somebody  has  been  neglect 
ing  his  or  her  duty.  If  we  can  make  that 
somebody  realize  his  delinquencies,  all  the 
better,  for  the  responsibility  will  not  be 
ours.  If  we  cannot,  why,  the  case  is  clear 
enough  and  simple  enough  in  my  mind.  We 
certainly  do  not  want  '  Mene,  mene,  tekel, 
upharsin,'  written  over  this,  of  all  doors." 


22  HARM  LISA. 

Rhoda's  hand  went  up  to  an  imaginary 
cap  in  a  gesture  of  military  obedience. 
"Very  well,  my  general.  I  fly  to  prepare 
weapons  with  which  to  fight  Satan.  You, 
of  course,  will  take  her ;  oh,  my  dear,  I  'm 
almost  afraid  you  oughtn't!  I  choose  the 
bullet-headed  blonde  twin  who  says  his 
name  is  '  Lanty, '  and  reserve  for  Edith  the 
bursting-with-fat  brunette  twin  who  calls 
herself  '  Ciffy.'  Edith's  disciplinary  powers 
have  been  too  much  vaunted  of  late;  we 
shall  see  if  Ciffy  ruffles  her  splendid  seren 
ity." 


III. 

A    FAMILY   POLYGON. 

MRS.  GRUBB'S  family  circle  was  really 
not  a  circle  at  all;  it  was  rather  a  polygon, 
—  a  curious  assemblage  of  distinct  person 
ages. 

There  was  no  unity  in  it,  no  membership 
one  of  another.  It  was  four  ones,  not  one 
four.  If  some  gatherer  of  statistics  had 
visited  the  household,  he  might  have  de 
scribed  it  thus :  — 

"Mrs.  S.  Cora  Grubb,  widow,  aged  forty 
years. 

"Alisa  Bennett,  feeble-minded,  aged  ten 
or  twelve  years. 

"Atlantic  and  Pacific  Simonson,  twins, 
aged  four  years." 

The  man  of  statistics  might  seek  in  vain 
for  some  principle  of  attraction  or  cohesion 
between  these  independent  elements;  but 
no  one  who  knew  Mrs.  Grubb  would  have 
been  astonished  at  the  sort  of  family  that 
had  gathered  itself  about  her.  Queer  as  it 


24  HARM  LISA. 

undoubtedly  was  at  this  period,   it  had  at 
various  times  been  infinitely  queerer.     There 
was   a   certain   memorable   month,    shortly 
after   her   husband's    decease,    when   Mrs. 
Grubb  allowed  herself  to  be  considered  as 
a  compensated   hostess,   though   the   terms 
"landlady"  and  "boarder"  were  never  ut 
tered  in  her  hearing.     She  hired  a  Chinese 
cook,  who  slept  at  home,  cleared  out  for  the 
use  of  Lisa  and  the  twins  a  small  storeroom 
in  which  she  commonly  kept  Eldorado  face 
powder,  and  herself  occupied  a  sofa  in  the 
apartment  of  a  friend  of  humanity  in  the 
next   street.     These  arrangements   enabled 
her  to  admit  an  experimenter  on  hypnotism, 
a  mental  healer  who  had  been  much  abused 
by  the   orthodox  members  of  her  cult  and 
was    evolving   a   method   of    her    own,    an 
ostensible  delegate  to  an  Occidental  Confer 
ence  of  Religions,  and  a  lady  agent  for  a 
flexible    celluloid    undershirt.     For    a    few 
days  Mrs.  Grubb  found  the  society  of  these 
persons  very  stimulating  and  agreeable,  but 
before  long  the  hypnotist  proved  to  be  an 
unscrupulous  gentleman  who  hypnotized  the 
mental  healer  so  that  she  could  not  heal, 
and  the  Chinese  cook  so  that  he  could  not 
cook.     When,   therefore,   the   delegate  de- 


A   FAMILY  POLYGON.  25 

parted  suddenly  in  company  with  the  cellu 
loid-underwear  lady,  explaining  by  a  hur 
ried  postal  card  that  they  would  "remit" 
from  Chicago,  she  evicted  the  other  two 
boarders,  and  retired  again  to  private  life. 

This  episode  was  only  one  of  Mrs.  Grubb's 
many  divagations,  for  she  had  been  a  person 
of  advanced   ideas   from   a    comparatively 
early  age.     It  would  seem  that  she   must 
have  inherited  a  certain  number  of  "views," 
because     no     human     being     could      have 
amassed,  in  a  quarter  of  a  century,  as  many 
as  she  held  at  the  age  of  twenty-five.     She 
had  then  stood  up  with  Mr.  Charles  Grubb 
before  a  large  assembly,  in  the  presence  of 
which  they  promised  to  assume  and  continue 
the  relation  of  husband  and  wife  so  long  as 
it  was  mutually  agreeable.     As  a  matter  of 
fact  it  had  not  been  mutually  agreeable  to 
Mr.  Grubb  more  than  six  months,  but  such 
was  the  nobility  of  his  character  that  he 
never     disclosed     his    disappointment    nor 
claimed  any  immunity  from  the  responsibili 
ties  of  the  marriage  state.     Mr.  Grubb  was 
a  timid,  conventional  soul,  who  would  have 
given  all  the  testimony  of  all  the  witnesses 
of  his  wedding  ceremony  for  the  mere  pre 
sence  of  a  single  parson;   but  he  imagined 


26  MARM  LISA. 

himself  in  love  with  Cora  Wilkins,  and  she 
could  neither  be  wooed  nor  won  by  any  of 
the  beaten  paths  that  led  to  other  women. 
He  foolishly  thought  that  the  number  of  her 
convictions  would  grow  less  after  she  be 
came  a  wife,  little  suspecting  the  fertility 
of  her  mind,  which  put  forth  a  new  expla 
nation  of  the  universe  every  day,  like  a 
strawberry  plant  that  devotes  itself  so  ex 
clusively  to  "runners"  that  it  has  little 
vigor  left  for  producing  fruit. 

The  town  in  New  York  where  they  lived 
proving  to  be  too  small,  narrow,  and  bigoted 
to  hold  a  developing  soul  like  Mrs.  Grubb's, 
she  persuaded  her  husband  to  take  passage 
for  California,  where  the  climate  might  be 
supposed  more  favorable  to  the  growth  of 
saving  ideas.  Mr.  Grubb  would  of  course 
be  obliged  to  relinquish  his  business,  but 
people  could  buy  and  sell  anywhere,  she 
thought,  and  as  for  her,  she  wanted  nothing 
but  unlimited  space  in  which  to  expand. 

There  was  money  enough  for  an  economi 
cal  journey  and  a  month  or  two  of  idleness 
afterward,  and  as  Mrs.  Grubb  believed 
everything  in  the  universe  was  hers  if  she 
only  chose  to  claim  it,  the  question  of 
finances  never  greatly  troubled  her.  They 


A   FAMILY  POLYGON.  27 

sailed  for  the  golden  West,  then,  this  ill- 
assorted     couple,     accompanied     by     Mrs. 
Grubb's  only  sister,  who  had  been  a  wife, 
was  now  a  widow,  and  would  shortly  become 
a  mother.     The  interesting  event  occurred 
much   sooner   than   had   been    anticipated. 
The  ship  became  the  birthplace  of  the  twins, 
who  had  been  most  unwelcome  when  they 
were  thought   about   as   one,   and   entirely 
offensive  when  found  to  be  two.     The  mo 
ther  did  not  long  survive  the  shock  of  her 
surprise  and  displeasure,  and  after  naming 
the  babies  Atlantic  and  Pacific,  and  confid 
ing  them  distinctly  to  the  care  of  Mr. ,  not 
Mrs.,   Grubb,   she  died  and  was  buried  at 
sea,  not  far  from  Cape  Horn.     Mrs.  Cora 
enjoyed  at  first  the  dramatic  possibilities  of 
her  position  on  the  ship,  where  the  baby 
orphans  found  more  than  one  kindly  senti 
mental  woman  ready  to  care  for  them ;  but 
there  was  no  permanent  place  in  her  philo 
sophy  for  a  pair  of  twins  who  entered  exist 
ence  with  a  concerted  shriek,  and  continued 
it  forever  afterward,  as  if  their  only  pur 
pose  in  life  was  to  keep  the  lungs  well  in 
flated.     Her  supreme  wish  was  to  be  freed 
from   the   carking  cares  of  the  flesh,  and 
thus  forever  ready  to  wing  her  free  spirit  in 
the  pure  ether  of  speculation. 


28  HARM   LISA. 

You  would  hardly  suppose  that  the  ob 
scure  spouse  of  Mrs.  Grubb  could  wash  and 
dress  the  twins,  prepare  their  breakfast,  go 
to  his  work,  come  home  and  put  them  to 
bed,  four  or  five  days  out  of  every  seven  in 
the  week;  but  that  is  what  he  did,  accept 
ing  it  as  one  phase  of  the  mysterious  human 
comedy  (or  was  it  tragedy?)  in  which  he 
played  his  humble  part. 

Mrs.  Grubb  was  no  home  spirit,  no  god 
dess  of  the  hearth.  She  graced  her  family 
board  when  no  invitation  to  refresh  herself 
elsewhere  had  been  proffered,  and  that  she 
generally  slept  in  her  own  bed  is  as  strong 
a  phrase  as  can  be  written  on  the  subject. 
If  she  had  been  born  in  Paris,  at  the  proper 
time,  she  would  have  been  the  leader  of  a 
salon ;  separated  from  that  brilliant  destiny 
by  years,  by  race,  and  by  imperious  circum 
stance,  she  wielded  the  same  sort  of  sceptre 
in  her  own  circumscribed  but  appreciative 
sphere.  No  social  occasion  in  Eden  Place 
was  complete  without  Mrs.  Grubb.  With 
her  (and  some  light  refreshment),  a  party 
lacked  nothing;  without  her,  even  if  other 
conditions  were  favorable,  it  seemed  a  flat, 
stale,  and  unprofitable  affair.  Like  Robin 
Adair, 


A    FAMILY   POLYGON.  29 

"  She  made  the  ball  so  fine  : 
She  made  th'  occasion  shine." 

Mrs.  Grtibb  hanging  on  her  front  gate, 
duster  in  hand  (she  never  conversed  quite 
as  well  without  it,  and  never  did  anything 
else  with  it),  might  have  been  a  humble 
American  descendant  of  Madame  de  Stael 
talking  on  the  terrace  at  Coppet,  with  the 
famous  sprig  of  olive  in  her  fingers.  She 
moved  among  her  subjects  like  a  barouche 
among  express  wagons,  was  heard  after 
them  as  a  song  after  sermons.  That  she 
did  not  fulfill  the  whole  duty  of  woman  did 
not  occur  to  her  fascinated  constituents. 
There  was  always  some  duller  spirit  who 
could  slip  in  and  "do  the  dishes,"  that  Mrs. 
Grubb  might  grace  a  conversazione  on  the 
steps  or  at  the  gate.  She  was  not  one  of 
those  napkin  people  who  hide  their  talents, 
or  who  immure  their  lights  under  superin 
cumbent  bushels.  Whatever  was  hers  was 
everybody's,  for  she  dispensed  her  favors 
with  a  liberal  hand.  She  would  never  have 
permitted  a  child  to  suffer  for  lack  of  food 
or  bed,  for  she  was  not  at  heart  an  unkind 
woman.  You  could  see  that  by  looking  at 
her  vague,  soft  brown  eyes,  eyes  that  never 
saw  practical  duties  straight  in  front  of 


30  MARM  LISA. 

them,  —  liquid,  star-gazing,  vision-seeing 
eyes,  that  could  never  be  focused  on  any 
near  object,  such  as  a  twin  or  a  cooking 
stove.  Individuals  never  interested  her; 
she  cared  for  nothing  but  humanity,  and 
humanity  writ  very  large  at  that,  so  that 
once  the  twins  nearly  died  of  scarlatina 
while  Mrs.  Grubb  was  collecting  money  for 
the  children  of  the  yellow-fever  sufferers  in 
the  South. 

But  Providence  had  an  eye  for  Mr. 
Grubb's  perplexities.  It  does  not  and  can 
not  always  happen,  in  a  world  like  this, 
that  vice  is  assisted  to  shirk  and  virtue 
aided  to  do  its  duty ;  but  any  man  as  mar- 
velously  afflicted  as  Mr.  Grubb  is  likely  to 
receive  not  only  spiritual  consolation,  but 
miraculous  aid  of  some  sort.  The  spectacle 
of  the  worthy  creature  as  he  gave  the  reluc 
tant  twins  their  occasional  bath,  and  fed 
them  on  food  regularly  prescribed  by  Mrs. 
Grubb,  and  almost  as  regularly  rejected  by 
them,  would  have  melted  the  stoniest  heart. 
And  who  was  the  angel  of  deliverance?  A 
little  vacant-eyed,  half -foolish,  almost  inar 
ticulate  child,  whose  feeble  and  sickly  mo 
ther  was  dragging  out  a  death-in-life  exist 
ence  in  a  street  near  by.  The  child  saw 


A   FAMILY  POLYGON.  31 

Mr.  Grubb  wheeling  the  twins  in  a  double 
perambulator;   followed  them  home;   came 
again,    and   then   again,    and   then    again; 
hung  about  the  door,  fell  upon  a  dog  that 
threatened  to  bite  them,  and  drove  it  away 
howling;  often  stood  over  the  perambulator 
with  a  sunshade  for  three  hours  at  a  time, 
without  moving  a  muscle,  and  adored  Mr. 
Grubb  with  a  consuming  passion.     There 
was  no  special  reason  for  this  sentiment, 
but  then  Alisa  Bennett  was  not  quite  a  rea 
sonable  being.     Mr.  Grubb  had  never  been 
adored  before  in  his  life;   and  to  say  the 
truth,  his  personality  was  not  winning.     He 
had  a  pink,  bald  head,  pale  blue  eyes,  with 
blonde  tufts  for  eyebrows,   and  a  pointed 
beard  dripping  from  his  chin  which  tended 
to  make  him  look  rather  like   an   invalid 
goat.     But  as  animals  are  said  to  have  an 
eye  for  spirits,    children  have  an  eye   for 
souls,   which  is  far  rarer  than  an  eye  for 
beautiful  surfaces. 

Mr.  Grubb  began  by  loathing  Alisa,  then 
patiently  suffered  her,  then  pitied,  then 
respected,  then  loved  her.  Mrs.  Grubb 
seldom  saw  her,  and  objected  to  nothing  by 
which  she  herself  was  relieved  of  care.  So 
Lisa  grew  to  be  first  a  familiar  figure  in 


32  HARM  LISA. 

the  household,  and  later  an  indispensable 
one. 

Poor  Mrs.  Bennett  finally  came  to  the 
end  of  things  temporal.  "Dying  is  the 
first  piece  of  good  luck  I  ever  had,"  she 
said  to  Mr.  Grubb.  "If  it  turns  out  that 
I  've  brought  a  curse  upon  an  innocent  crea 
ture,  I  'd  rather  go  and  meet  my  punishment 
halfway  than  stay  here  and  see  it  worked 
out  to  the  end." 

"  '  In  my  Father's  house  are  many  man 
sions,'"  stammered  Mr.  Grubb,  who  had 
never  before  administered  spiritual  consola 
tion. 

She  shook  her  head.  "If  I  can  only  get 
rid  of  this  world,  it 's  all  I  ask,"  she  said; 
"if  the  other  one  isn't  any  better,  why,  it 
can't  be  any  worse!  Feel  under  the  mat 
tress  and  you  '11  find  money  enough  to  last 
three  or  four  years.  It 's  all  she  '11  ever 
get,  for  she  hasn't  a  soul  now  to  look  to 
for  help.  That 's  the  way  we  human  beings 
arrange  things,  —  we,  or  the  Lord,  or  the 
Evil  One,  or  whoever  it  is;  we  bring  a 
puzzle  into  the  world,  and  then  leave  it  for 
other  people  to  work  out  —  if  they  can! 
Who  '11  work  out  this  one?  Who  '11  work 
out  this  one?  Perhaps  she'll  die  before 


A    FAMILY  POLYGON.  33 

the  money's  gone;  let's  hope  for  the 
best." 

"Don't  take  on  like  that!"  said  Mr. 
Grubb  despairingly,  —  "don't!  Pray  for 
resignation,  can't  you?" 

"Pray!"  she  exclaimed  scornfully. 
"Thank  goodness,  I  've  got  enough  self- 
respect  left  not  to  pray !  —  Yes,  I  must 
pray,  I  must!  .  .  .  Oh,  God!  I  do  not 
ask  forgiveness  for  him  or  for  myself;  I 
only  beg  that,  in  some  way  I  cannot  see, 
we  may  be  punished,  and  she  spared!  " 

And  when  the  stricken  soul  had  fled  from 
her  frail  body,  they  who  came  to  prepare 
her  for  the  grave  looked  at  her  face  and 
found  it  shining  with  hope. 

It  was  thus  that  poor  little  Alisa  Bennett 
assumed  maternal  responsibilities  at  the  age 
of  ten,  and  gained  her  sobriquet  of  "Marm 
Lisa."  She  grew  more  human,  more  tract 
able,  under  Mr.  Grubb's  fostering  care; 
but  that  blessed  martyr  had  now  been  dead 
two  years,  and  she  began  to  wear  her  former 
vacuous  look,  and  to  slip  back  into  the  past 
that  was  still  more  dreadful  than  the  pre 
sent. 

It  seemed  to  Mrs.  Grubb  more  than 
strange  that  she,  with  her  desire  for  free- 


34  MARM  LISA. 

dom,  should  be  held  to  earth  by  three  chil 
dren  not  flesh  of  her  flesh,  —  and  such  chil 
dren  !  The  father  of  the  twins  had  been  a 
professional  pugilist,  but  even  that  fact 
could  never  sufficiently  account  for  Pacific 
Simonson.  She  had  apparently  inherited 
instincts  from  tribes  of  warlike  ancestors 
who  skulked  behind  trees  with  battleaxes, 
and  no  one  except  her  superior  in  size  and 
courage  was  safe  from  her  violent  hand. 
She  had  little  wicked  dark  eyes  and  crimson 
swollen  cheeks,  while  Atlantic  had  flaxen 
hair,  a  low  forehead,  and  a  square  jaw. 
He  had  not  Pacific's  ingenuity  in  conceiv 
ing  evil,  but  when  it  was  once  conceived, 
he  had  a  dogged  persistency  in  carrying  it 
out  that  made  him  worthy  of  his  twin. 

Yet  with  all  these  crosses  Mrs.  Grubb 
was  moderately  cheerful,  for  her  troubles 
were  as  nebulous  as  everything  else  to  her 
mind.  She  intended  to  invent  some  feasi 
ble  plan  for  her  deliverance  sooner  or  later, 
but  she  was  much  more  intent  upon  devel 
opment  than  deliverance,  and  she  never 
seemed  to  have  the  leisure  to  break  her 
shackles.  Nothing  really  mattered  much. 
Her  body  might  be  occasionally  in  Eden 
Place,  but  her  soul  was  always  in  a  hired 


A   FAMILY  POLYGON.  35 

hall.  She  delighted  in  joining  the  New 
Order  of  Something,  —  anything,  so  long 
as  it  was  an  Order  and  a  new  one,  —  and 
then  going  with  a  selected  committee  to 
secure  a  lodge-room  or  a  hall  for  meetings. 
She  liked  to  walk  up  the  dim  aisle  with  the 
janitor  following  after  her,  and  imagine 
brilliant  lights  (paid  for  by  collection),  a 
neat  table  and  lamp  and  pitcher  of  iced 
water,  and  herself  in  the  chair  as  president 
or  vice-president,  secretary  or  humble  trus 
tee.  There  was  that  about  her  that  pre 
cluded  the  possibility  of  simple  membership. 
She  always  rose  into  office  the  week  after 
she  had  joined  any  society.  If  there  was 
no  office  vacant,  then  some  bold  spirit  (gen 
erally  male)  would  create  one,  that  Mrs. 
Grubb  might  not  wither  in  the  privacy  of 
the  ranks.  Before  the  charter  members 
had  fully  learned  the  alphabet  of  their  order 
and  had  gained  a  thorough  understanding 
of  the  social  revolution  it  was  destined  to 
work,  Mrs.  Grubb  had  mastered  the  whole 
scheme  and  was  unfolding  it  before  large 
classes  for  the  study  of  the  higher  theory. 
The  instant  she  had  a  tale  to  tell  she  pre 
sumed  the  "listening  earth"  to  be  ready  to 
hear  it.  The  new  Order  became  an  old  one 


MAh'M     LISA. 


in  course  of  time,  ami,  like  the  nautilus, 
Mrs.  Grubb  outgrew  her  shell  and  built 
herself  a  more  stately  chamber.  Another 
clue  to  the  universe  was  soon  forthcoming, 
for  all  this  happened  in  a  eity  where  it  is 
mvessary  only  for  a  man  to  open  his  lips 
and  say,  "I  am  a  prophet,"  and  followers 
flock  unto  him  as  many  in  number  as  the 
stars.  She  was  never  disturbed  that  the 
last  clue  had  brought  her  nowhere  ;  she  fol 
lowed  the  new  one  as  passionately  as  the 
old,  and  told  her  breathless  pupils  that 
their  feet  must  not  be  weary,  for  they  were 
treading  the  path  of  progress;  that  these 
apparently  fruitless  excursions  into  the  do 
main  of  knowledge  all  served  as  so  many 
milestones  in  their  glorious  ascent  of  the 
mountain  of  truth. 


IV. 

HARM    LISA    IS    TRANSPLANTED. 

IT  was  precisely  as  Khoda  thought  and 
feared.  The  three  strange  beings  who  had 
drifted  within  Mistress  Mary's  reach  had 
proved  to  belong  to  her  simply  because  they 
did  not  belong  to  anybody  else.  They  did 
not  know  their  names,  the  streets  in  which 
they  lived,  or  anything  else  about  which 
they  were  questioned,  but  she  had  followed 
them  home  to  the  corner  house  of  Eden 
Place,  although  she  failed,  on  the  occasion 
of  that  first  visit,  to  find  Mrs.  Grubb 
within.  There  was,  however,  a  very  volu 
ble  person  next  door,  who  supplied  a  little 
information  and  asked  considerable  more. 
Mrs.  Sylvester  told  Mary  that  Mrs.  Grubb 
was  at  that  moment  presiding  over  a  meet 
ing  of  the  Kipling  Brothers  in  Unity  Hall, 
just  round  the  corner. 

"They  meet  Tuesdays  and  Thursdays  at 
four  o'clock,"  she  said,  "and  you  'd  find  it 
a  real  treat  if  you  like  to  step  over  there." 


38  MARM  LISA. 

"Thank  you,  I  am  rather  busy  this  after 
noon,"  replied  Mary. 

"Do  you  wish  to  leave  any  name  or  mes 
sage  ?  Did  you  want  a  setting?  " 

"  A  sitting  ?  "  asked  Mary  vaguely.  "  Oh 
no,  thank  you;  I  merely  wished  to  see  Mrs. 
Grubb  —  is  that  the  name  ?  " 

"That's  it,  and  an  awful  grievance  it  is 
to  her,  —Mrs.  S.  Cora  Grubb.  You  have 
seen  it  in  the  newspapers,  I  suppose;  she 
has  a  half  column  '  ad  '  in  the  Sunday  Ob 
server  once  a  month.  Wouldn't  you  like 
your  nails  attended  to  ?  I  have  a  perfectly 
splendid  manicure  stopping  with  me." 

"No,  thank  you.  I  hoped  to  see  Mrs. 
Grubb,  to  ask  if  her  children  can  come  and 
spend  the  morning  with  me  to-morrow." 

"Oh,  that'll  be  all  right;  they're  not 
her  children;  she  doesn't  care  where  they 
go;  they  stay  in  the  back  yard  or  on  the 
sand-lot  most  of  the  time;  she  's  got  some 
thing  more  important  to  occupy  her  atten 
tion.  Say,  I  hope  you  '11  excuse  me,  but 
you  look  a  little  pale.  If  you  were  intend 
ing  to  get  some  mental  healing  from  Mrs. 
Grubb,  why,  I  can  do  it;  she  found  I  had 
the  power,  and  she  's  handed  all  her  healing 
over  to  me.  It 's  a  new  method,  and  is 


MARM  LISA   IS   TRANSPLANTED.         39 

going  to  supersede  all  the  others,  we  think. 
My  hours  are  from  ten  to  twelve,  and  two 
to  four,  but  I  could  take  you  evenings,  if 
you  're  occupied  during  the  day.  My  cures 
are  almost  as  satisfactory  as  Mrs.  Grubb's 
now,  though  I  haven't  been  healing  but  six 
months  last  Wednesday." 

"Fortunately  I  am  very  well  and  strong," 
smiled  Mistress  Mary. 

"Yes,  that's  all  right,  but  you  don't 
know  how  soon  sickness  may  overtake  you, 
if  you  have  n't  learned  to  cast  off  fear  and 
practice  the  denials.  Those  who  are  living 
in  error  are  certain  to  be  affected  by  it 
sooner  or  later  unless  they  accept  the  new 
belief.  Why  don't  you  have  your  nails 
done,  now  you  're  here?  My  manicure  has 
the  highest  kind  of  a  polish,  —  she  uses 
pumice  powder  and  the  rose  of  Peru  lustre : 
you  ought  to  try  her;  by  taking  twenty 
tickets  you  get  your  single  treatments  for 
thirty-five  cents  apiece.  Not  this  after 
noon?  Well,  some  other  time,  then.  It 
will  be  all  right  about  the  children,  and 
very  good  of  you  to  want  them.  Of  course 
you  can't  teach  them  anything,  if  that 's 
your  idea.  Belief  in  original  sin  is  all 
against  my  theories,  but  I  confess  I  can't 


40  MARM  LISA. 

explain  the  twins  without  it.  I  sometimes 
wonder  I  can  do  any  healing,  with  them  in 
the  next  house  throwing  off  evil  influences. 
I  am  treating  Lisa  by  suggestion,  but  she 
has  n't  responded  any  yet.  Call  again, 
won't  you?  Mrs.  Grubb  is  in  from  seven 
to  eight  in  the  morning,  and  ten  thirty  to 
eleven  thirty  in  the  evening.  You  ought 
to  know  her;  we  think  there  's  nobody  like 
Mrs.  Grubb;  she  has  a  wonderful  follow 
ing,  and  it's  growing  all  the  time;  I  took 
this  house  to  be  near  her.  Good-afternoon. 
By  the  way,  if  you  or  any  of  your  friends 
should  require  any  vocal  culture,  you 
could  n't  do  better  than  take  of  Madame 
Goldmarker  in  number  seventeen.  She  can 
make  anybody  sing,  they  say.  I  'm  taking 
of  her  right  along,  and  my  voice  has  about 
doubled  in  size.  I  ought  to  be  leading  the 
Kipling  Brothers  now,  but  my  patients 
stayed  so  late  to-day  I  didn't  get  a  good 
start.  Good-afternoon." 

The  weeks  wore  on,  and  the  children 
were  old  friends  when  Mary  finally  made 
Mrs.  Grubb's  acquaintance;  but  in  the 
somewhat  hurried  interviews  she  had  with 
that  lady  at  first,  she  never  seemed  able  to 
establish  the  kind  of  relation  she  desired. 


MARM  LISA   IS    TRANSPLANTED.         41 

The  very  atmosphere  of  her  house  was  cha 
otic,  and  its  equally  chaotic  mistress  showed 
no  sign  of  seeking  advice  on  any  point. 

"Marm  Lisa  could  hardly  be  received  in 
the  schools,"  Mary  told  the  listening  neo 
phytes   one  afternoon   when   they  were  all 
together.      "There  ought  of  course  to  be  a 
special  place  for  her  and  such  as  she,  some 
where,  and  people  are  beginning  to  see  and 
feel  the  importance  of  it  here;  but  until  the 
thought  and  hope  become  a  reality  the  state 
will  simply  put  the  child  in  with  the  idiots 
and    lunatics,    to    grow    more    and    more 
wretched,  more  hopeless,  more  stupid,  until 
the  poor  little  light  is   quenched  in  utter 
darkness.     There   is  hope  for  her  now,   I 
am  sure  of  it.     If  Mrs.  Grubb's  neighbors 
have  told  me  the  truth,  any  physical  malady 
that  may  be  pursuing  her  is  in  its  very  first 
stages;   for,   so  far  as  they  know  in  Eden 
Place,   where  one   doesn't   look  for   exact 
knowledge,  to  be  sure,  she  has  had  but  two 
or  three  attacks  ( '  dizziness  '  or  '  faintness  ' 
they  called  them)  in  as  many  years.     She 
was  very  strange  and  intractable  just  before 
the  last  one,  and  much  clearer  in  her  mind 
afterwards.     They  think  her  worse  of  late, 
and  have  advised  Mrs.  Grubb  to  send  her 


42  MARM  LISA. 

to  an  insane  asylum  if  she  doesn't  improve. 
She  would  probably  have  gone  there  long 
ago  if  she  had  not  been  such  a  valuable 
watch-dog  for  the  twins;  but  she  does  not 
belong  there,  —  we  have  learned  that  from 
the  doctors.  They  say  decisively  that  she 
is  curable,  but  that  she  needs  very  delicate 
treatment.  My  opinion  is  that  we  have  a 
lovely  bit  of  rescue-work  sent  directly  into 
our  hands  in  the  very  nick  of  time.  All 
those  in  favor  of  opening  the  garden  gates 
a  little  wider  for  Marm  Lisa  respond  by 
saying' Ay!'" 

There  was  a  shout  from  the  neophytes 
that  shook  the  very  rafters  —  such  a  shout 
that  Lisa  shuffled  across  the  room,  and  sit 
ting  down  on  a  stool  at  Mistress  Mary's 
feet,  looked  up  at  her  with  a  dull,  uncom 
prehending  smile.  Why  were  those  beloved 
eyes  full  of  tears?  She  could  not  be  dis 
pleased,  for  she  had  been  laughing  a  mo 
ment  before.  She  hardly  knew  why,  but 
Mistress  Mary's  wet  eyes  tortured  her;  she 
made  an  ejaculation  of  discomfort  and  re 
sentment,  and  taking  the  corner  of  her 
apron  wiped  her  new  friend's  face  softly, 
gazing  at  her  with  a  dumb  sorrow  until 
the  smile  came  back;  then  she  took  out  her 


MARX  LISA   IS    TRANSPLANTED.         43 

string  and  her  doll  and  played  by  herself  as 
contentedly  as  usual. 

It  was  thus  that  heaven  began  to  dawn 
on  poor  Marm  Lisa.  At  first  only  a  phy 
sical  heaven  :  temporary  separation  from 
Atlantic  and  Pacific;  a  chair  to  herself  in 
a  warm,  sunshiny  room;  beautiful,  bright, 
incomprehensible  things  hanging  on  the 
walls ;  a  soft  gingham  apron  that  her  clumsy 
fingers  loved  to  touch ;  brilliant  bits  of  color 
and  entrancing  waves  of  sound  that  roused 
her  sleeping  senses  to  something  like  plea 
sure;  a  smile  meeting  her  eyes  when  she 
looked  up,  —  oh !  she  knew  a  smile,  —  God 
lets  love  dwell  in  these  imprisoned  spirits! 
By  and  by  all  these  new  sensations  were 
followed  by  thoughts,  or  something  akin  to 
them.  Her  face  wore  a  brooding,  puzzled 
look.  "Poor  little  soul,  she  is  feeling  her 
growing-pains!"  said  Mistress  Mary.  It 
was  a  mind  sitting  in  a  dim  twilight  where 
everything  seems  confused.  The  physical 
eye  appears  to  see,  but  the  light  never  quite 
pierces  the  dimness  nor  reflects  its  beauty 
there.  If  the  ears  hear  the  song  of  birds, 
the  cooing  of  babes,  the  heart-beat  in  the 
organ  tone,  then  the  swift  little  messengers 
that  fly  hither  and  thither  in  my  mind  and 


44  MARM  LISA. 

yours,  carrying  echoes  of  sweetness  unspeak 
able,  tread  more  slowly  here,  and  never 
quite  reach  the  spirit  in  prison.  A  spirit 
in  prison,  indeed,  but  with  one  ray  of  sun 
light  shining  through  the  bars,  —  a  vision 
of  duty.  Lisa's  weak  memory  had  lost 
almost  all  trace  of  Mr.  Grubb  as  a  person, 
but  the  old  instinct  of  fidelity  was  still  there 
in  solution,  and  unconsciously  influenced 
her  actions.  The  devotion  that  first  pos 
sessed  her  when  she  beheld  the  twins  as 
babies  in  the  perambulator  still  held  sway 
against  all  their  evil  actions.  If  they 
plunged  into  danger  she  plunged  after  them 
without  a  thought  of  consequences.  There 
was,  perhaps,  no  real  heroism  in  this,  for 
she  saw  no  risks  and  counted  no  cost ;  this 
is  what  other  people  said,  but  Mistress 
Mary  always  thought  Marm  Lisa  had  in 
her  the  stuff  out  of  which  heroes  and  mar 
tyrs  are  made.  She  had  never  walked  in 
life's  sunny  places;  it  had  always  been  the 
valley  of  the  shadow  for  her.  She  was  sur 
rounded  by  puzzles,  with  never  any  answer 
to  one  of  them,  but  if  only  she  had  compre 
hended  the  truth,  it  was  these  very  puzzles 
that  were  her  salvation.  While  her  feeble 
mind  stirred,  while  it  wondered,  brooded, 


MARM  LISA   IS   TRANSPLANTED.         45 

suffered,  —  though  it  did  all  these  too  sel 
dom,  —  it  kept  itself  alive,  even  if  the  life 
were  only  like  the  flickering  of  a  candle. 
And  now  the  candle  might  flicker,  but  it 
should  never  go  out  altogether,  if  half  a 
dozen  pairs  of  women's  hands  could  keep  it 
from  extinction;  and  how  patiently  they 
were  outstretched  to  shield  the  poor  apology 
for  a  flame,  and  coax  it  into  burning  more 
brightly ! 

"Let  the  child  choose  her  own  special 
teacher,"  said  Mistress  Mary;  "she  is  sure 
to  have  a  strong  preference." 

"Then  it  will  be  you,"  laughed  Helen. 

"Don't  be  foolish;  it  may  be  any  one  of 
us,  and  it  will  prove  nothing  in  any  case 
save  a  fancy  that  we  can  direct  to  good 
use." 

"She  seldom  looks  at  anybody  but  you," 
said  Edith. 

"That  is  true,"  replied  Mary  thought 
fully.  "I  think  she  is  attracted  by  this  glit 
tering  steel  thing  in  my  hair.  I  am  going  to 
weave  it  into  Helen's  curly  crop  some  day, 
and  see  whether  she  misses  it  or  transfers 
her  affection.  I  have  made  up  my  mind 
who  is  the  best  teacher  for  her  and  whom 
she  will  choose." 


46  MARM  LISA. 

Rhoda  gave  a  comical  groan.  "Don't 
say  it's  I,"  she  pleaded.  "I  dread  it. 
Please,  I  am  not  good  enough,  I  don't  know 
how;  and  besides,  she  gives  me  the  creeps!  " 

Mistress  Mary  turned  on  Rhoda  with  a 
reproachful  smile,  saying,  "You  naughty 
Rhoda,  with  the  brightest  eyes,  the  swiftest 
feet,  the  nimblest  fingers,  the  lightest  heart 
among  us  all,  why  do  you  want  to  shirk?  " 

Mistress  Mary  had  noted  the  fact  that 
Lisa  had  refused  to  sit  in  an  unpainted 
chair,  but  had  dragged  a  red  one  from  an 
other  room  and  ensconced  herself  in  it, 
though  it  was  uncomfortably  small. 

Now  Rhoda  was  well  named,  for  she  was 
a  rose  of  a  girl,  with  damask  cheeks  that 
glowed  like  two  Jacqueminot  beauties.  She 
was  much  given  to  aprons  of  scarlet  linen, 
to  collars  and  belts  of  red  velvet,  and  she 
had  a  general  air  of  being  fresh,  thoroughly 
alive,  and  in  a  state  of  dewy  and  perennial 
bloom.  Mary  was  right  in  her  surmise, 
and  whenever  she  herself  was  out  of  Lisa's 
sight  or  reach  the  child  turned  to  Rhoda 
instinctively  and  obeyed  her  implicitly. 


V. 

HOW   THE   NEW   PLANT   GREW. 

"Now,  Rhoda  dear,"  said  Mistress  Mary 
one  day,  when  Lisa  had  become  somewhat 
wonted  to  her  new  surroundings,  "you  are 
to  fold  your  hands  respectfully  in  your  lap, 
and  I  will  teach  you  things,  —  things  which 
you  in  your  youth  and  inexperience  have 
not  thought  about  as  yet.  The  other  girls 
may  listen,  too,  and  catch  the  drippings  of 
my  wisdom.  I  really  know  little  about  the 
education  of  defective  children,  but,  thank 
Heaven,  I  can  put  two  and  two  together,  as 
Susan  Nipper  said.  The  general  plan  will 
be  to  train  Lisa's  hands  and  speak  to  her 
senses  in  every  possible  way,  since  her  or 
gans  of  sense  are  within  your  reach,  and 
those  of  thought  are  out  of  it.  The  hardest 
lesson  for  such  a  child  to  learn  is  the  subor 
dination  of  its  erratic  will  to  our  normal 
ones.  Lisa's  affection  is  the  most  hopeful 
thing  about  her,  and  encourages  me  more 
than  anything  else.  It  is  not  as  if  there 


48  HARM  LISA. 

were  no  mental  processes  existing ;  they  are 
there,  but  in  a  very  enfeebled  state.  Of 
course  she  should  have  been  under  skilled 
teaching  the  last  six  years,  but,  late  as  it 
is,  we  could  not  think  of  giving  up  a  child 
who  can  talk,  use  her  right  hand,  dress  her 
self,  go  upon  errands,  recognize  colors, 
wash  dishes ;  who  is  apparently  neither  vi 
cious  nor  cunning,  but  who,  on  the  contrary, 
has  lived  four  years  under  the  same  roof 
with  Mrs.  S.  Cora  Grubb  without  rebellion 
or  violence  or  treachery !  Why,  dear  girls, 
such  a  task,  if  it  did  not  appeal  to  one  on 
the  moral,  certainly  would  on  the  intellect 
ual  side.  Marm  Lisa  will  teach  us  more  in 
a  year,  you  may  be  sure,  than  we  shall 
teach  her.  Let  us  keep  a  record  of  our 
experiments;  drop  all  materials  that  seem 
neither  to  give  her  sensations  nor  wake  her 
discriminative  power,  and  choose  others  that 
speak  to  her  more  clearly.  Let  us  watch 
her  closely,  both  to  penetrate  the  secret  of 
her  condition  and  to  protect  the  other  chil 
dren.  What  a  joy,  what  a  triumph,  to  say 
to  her  some  dear  day,  a  few  years  hence, 
'  You  poor,  motherless  bairn,  we  have  swept 
away  the  cobwebs  of  your  dreams,  given 
you  back  your  will,  put  a  clue  to  things  in 


HOW   THE   NEW  PLANT   GREW.         49 

your  hand :  now  go  on  and  learn  to  live  and 
be  mistress  of  your  own  life  under  God!  '  " 

It  was  at  such  a  moment,  when  Mary's 
voice  trembled  and  her  eyes  shone  through 
a  mist  of  tears  like  two  victorious  stars, 
that  a  hush  fell  upon  the  little  group,  and 
the  spirit  of  the  eternal  child  descended 
like  a  dove,  its  pure  wings  stirring  the 
silence  of  each  woman's  heart.  At  such  a 
moment,  their  daily  work,  with  its  round 
of  harsh,  unlovely,  beautiful,  discouraging, 
hopeful,  helpful,  heavenly  duties,  was  trans 
figured,  and  so  were  they.  The  servant 
was  transformed  by  the  service,  and  the 
service  by  the  servant.  They  were  alone 
together,  each  heart  knit  to  all  the  others 
by  the  close  bond  of  a  common  vocation; 
and  though  a  heretofore  unknown  expe 
rience,  it  seemed  a  natural  one  when  Mis 
tress  Mary  suddenly  bent  her  head  and  said 
softly :  — 

"Father  in  heaven,  it  is  by  the  vision  of 
thy  relation  to  us  that  we  can  apprehend 
our  relation  to  these  little  ones.  As  we 
have  accepted  that  high  trust,  so  make  us 
loyal  to  it.  When  our  feet  grow  weary 
and  our  faith  grows  dim,  help  us  to  follow 
close  after  the  ever  perfect  One  who  taught 


50  MARM  LISA. 

even  as  we  are  trying  to  teach.  He  it  was 
whom  the  common  people  heard  gladly. 
He  it  was  who  disdained  not  the  use  of 
objects  and  symbols,  remembering  it  was 
the  childhood  of  the  race.  He  it  was  who 
spake  in  parables  and  stories,  laying  bare 
soul  of  man  and  heart  of  nature,  and  reveal 
ing  each  by  divine  analogy.  He  it  was 
who  took  the  little  ones  in  his  arms  and 
blessed  them;  who  set  the  child  in  the 
midst,  saying,  '  Except  ye  become  as  one  of 
these.'  May  the  afterglow  of  that  inspired 
teaching  ever  shine  upon  the  path  we  are 
treading.  May  we  bathe  our  tired  spirits 
in  its  warmth  and  glory,  and  kindle  our 
torches  at  the  splendor  of  its  light.  We 
remember  that  he  told  us  to  feed  his  lambs. 
Dear  Lord,  help  all  the  faithful  shepherds 
who  care  for  the  ninety-and-nine  that  lie  in 
the  safe  cover  of  the  fold ;  help  us,  too,  for 
we  are  the  wandering  shepherds  whose  part 
it  is  to  go  out  over  the  bleak  hills,  up  the 
mountain  sides  and  rocky  places,  and  gather 
in  out  of  the  storm  and  stress  of  things  all 
the  poor,  un shepherded,  wee  bit  lammies 
that  have  either  wandered  forlornly  away 
from  shelter,  or  have  been  born  in  the  wil 
derness  and  know  no  other  home.  Such  an 


HOW   THE   NEW  PLANT   GREW.          51 

one  has  just  strayed  into  the  fold  from  the 
dreary  hill-country.  It  needs  a  wiser  shep 
herd  than  any  one  of  us.  Grant  that  by 
gentleness,  patience,  and  insight  we  may 
atone  somewhat  for  our  lack  of  wisdom  and 
skill.  We  read  among  thy  mysteries  that 
the  divine  Child  was  born  of  a  virgin. 
May  he  be  born  again  and  born  daily  in 
our  hearts,  already  touched  by  that  remem 
brance  and  consecrated  by  its  meaning. 
And  this  we  ask  for  love's  sake.  Amen." 

Then  there  was  a  space  of  silence,  —  one 
of  those  silences  in  which  we  seem  to  be 
caught  up  into  the  heart  of  things,  when 
hidden  meanings  are  revealed,  when  the 
soul  stretches  itself  and  grows  a  little. 

It  was  a  few  minutes  later  when  Ehoda 
said:  "I  am  fired  with  zeal,  I  confess  it. 
Henceforth  my  single  aim  shall  be  to  bring 
Marm  Lisa  into  her  lost  kingdom  and  in 
heritance.  But  meanwhile,  how,  oh  how 
shall  I  master  the  hateful  preliminaries? 
How  shall  I  teach  her  to  lace  her  shoes  and 
keep  them  laced,  unless  I  invent  a  game  for 
it  ?  How  shall  I  keep  her  hair  from  dang 
ling  in  her  eyes,  how  keep  her  aprons  neat? 
—  though  in  those  respects  she  is  no  worse 
than  Pacific  Simonson.  I  promised  her  a 


52  HARM  LISA. 

doll  yesterday,  and  she  was  remarkably 
good.  Do  you  object,  Mistress  Mary?  " 

"I  don't  know  how  much  rewards  are 
used  in  these  cases,"  answered  Mary,  "but 
why  do  you  begin  with  them  when  the  prob 
lem  presents  no  insuperable  difficulties  as 
yet?  Whenever  she  conquers  herself,  her 
awkward  hands,  her  weak  will,  her  inatten 
tion,  her  restlessness,  give  her  some  task 
she  likes,  some  pleasure  or  occupation  for 
which  she  has  shown  decided  preference, 
and  thus  make  happiness  follow  close  upon 
the  heels  of  effort.  We  who  see  more 
clearly  the  meaning  of  life  know  that  this 
will  not  always  happen,  and  we  can  be  con 
tent  to  do  right  for  right's  sake.  I  don't 
object  to  your  putting  hosts  of  slumbering 
incentives  in  Lisa's  mind,  but  a  slumbering 
incentive  is  not  vulgar  and  debasing,  like 
a  bribe." 

A  plant  might  be  a  feeble  and  common 
thing,  yet  it  might  grow  in  beauty  and 
strength  in  a  garden  like  Mistress  Mary's. 
Such  soil  in  the  way  of  surroundings,  such 
patient  cultivation  of  roots  and  stems,  such 
strengthening  of  tendrils  on  all  sorts  of 
lovely  props,  such  sunshine  of  love,  such 
dew  of  sympathy,  such  showers  of  kindness, 


HOW   THE  NEW  PLANT   GREW.         53 

such  favoring  breezes  of  opportunity,  such 
pleasure  for  a  new  leaf,  joy  for  a  bud,  grati 
tude  for  a  bloom !  What  an  atmosphere  in 
which  to  grow  towards  knowledge  and  good 
ness!  Was  it  any  wonder  that  the  little 
people  "all  in  a  row"  responded  to  the 
genius  of  Mistress  Mary's  influence?  They 
used  to  sing  a  song  called  The  Light  Bird, 
in  which  some  one,  all  unknown  to  the  chil 
dren,  would  slip  into  the  playground  with 
a  bit  of  broken  looking-glass,  and  suddenly 
a  radiant  fluttering  disk  of  light  would 
appear  on  the  wall,  and  dance  up  and  down, 
above  and  below,  hither  and  yon,  like  a 
winged  sunbeam.  The  children  held  out 
longing  arms  and  sang  to  it  coaxingly. 
Sometimes  it  quivered  over  Mistress  Mary's 
head,  and  fired  every  delicate  point  of  her 
steel  tiara  with  such  splendor  that  the  Irish 
babies  almost  felt  like  crossing  themselves. 
At  such  times,  those  deux  petits  cceurs  sees, 
Atlantic  and  Pacific,  and  all  the  other  full- 
fledged  and  half -fledged  scapegraces,  forgot 
to  be  naughty,  and  the  millennium  was  fore 
shadowed.  The  neophytes  declared  Mis 
tress  Mary  a  bit  of  a  magician.  Somehow 
or  other,  the  evil  imps  in  the  children 
shrank  away,  abashed  by  the  soft  surprise 


54  MARM  LISA. 

of  a  glance  that  seemed  to  hope  something 
better,  and  the  good  angels  came  out  of 
their  banishment,  unfolded  their  wings,  and 
sunned  themselves  in  the  warmth  of  her 
approving  smile.  Her  spiritual  antennae 
were  so  fine,  so  fine,  that  they  discerned  the 
good  in  everything;  they  were  feeling  now 
after  the  soft  spot  in  the  rocky  heart  of 
Atlantic  Simon  son;  they  had  not  found  it 
yet,  but  they  would,  —  oh,  they  would  in 
time;  for  if  hope  is  the  lover's  staff,  it  is 
no  less  that  of  the  idealist. 

Marm  Lisa  looked  upon  the  miracles 
that  happened  under  Mistress  Mary's  roof 
with  a  sort  of  dazed  wonder,  but  her  intelli 
gence  grew  a  little  day  by  day ;  and  though 
she  sadly  taxed  everybody's  patience,  she 
infused  a  new  spirit  into  all  the  neophytes. 

Had  not  improvement  been  rapid,  their 
untrained  zeal  might  perhaps  have  flagged. 
Had  the  mental  symptoms,  by  their  obscur 
ity,  baffled  them  or  defied  them  on  every 
side,  their  lack  of  systematic,  scientific 
training  for  such  a  task  might  have  made 
them  discouraged;  but  delicate  and  exact 
ing  as  the  work  was,  their  love  and  enthu 
siasm,  their  insight  and  patience,  their 
cleverness  and  ingenuity,  triumphed  over 


HOW   THE  NEW  PLANT    GREW.         55 

all  obstacles;  and  luckily  for  their  youth 
and  comparative  inexperience,  they  were 
rewarded  in  marvelous  measure. 

Not  that  every  day  was  bright  and  hope 
ful.  The  carefully  kept  record  was  black 
enough  on  occasions,  beginning  with  the 
morning  when  Helen,  sitting  in  the  circle, 
felt  a  rough  hand  on  her  head,  and  Marm 
Lisa,  without  the  slightest  warning  of  her 
intention,  snatched  Mary's  steel  band  forci 
bly  from  her  hair,  and  taking  it  across  the 
room,  put  it  in  its  accustomed  place  on  its 
owner's  head.  Everybody  was  startled, 
but  Mary  rose  from  her  chair  quietly,  and 
taking  the  ornament  in  one  hand  and  Marm 
Lisa  by  the  other,  she  came  to  Helen's  side. 

"  I  like  to  have  my  shining  crown  in  Miss 
Helen's  hair,"  she  said;  "it  is  such  pretty 
curly  hair,  —  stroke  it  softly,  Lisa ;  she 
must  wear  it  this  morning  to  please  me,  and 
then  I  will  take  it  again  for  my  own.  Dear 
Miss  Helen,  who  is  so  sweet  and  good  to 
the  children,  I  love  her,"  and  she  kissed 
her  fondly  on  each  cheek. 

Marm  Lisa  did  not  attempt  to  rebel,  but 
she  was  sullen,  and  refused  her  work  when 
it  was  offered  her  later. 

Such  occurrences  were  rare,  however,  for 


56  MARM  LISA. 

her  obliquity  always  seemed  mental  rather 
than  moral. 

Straws  and  bright  papers,  beads  and 
pretty  forms  to  thread  on  stout  laces,  were 
given  her  to  wean  her  from  her  favorite  but 
aimless  string-play.  There  were  days  of 
restlessness,  when  she  wandered  up  and 
down  stairs,  and  could  not  be  kept  in  her 
chair  nor  persuaded  to  stand  in  her  place 
in  the  circle.  There  were  days,  too,  when 
she  tore  the  bright  cardboards  and  glossy 
weaving  mats  that  ordinarily  gave  her  such 
keen  pleasure;  but  this  carelessness  grew 
more  and  more  infrequent  until  it  ceased 
altogether,  so  that  it  had  probably  come 
more  from  her  inability  to  hold  and  move 
the  materials  and  needles  properly  than 
from  a  wanton  instinct  of  destruction;  for 
they  would  often  see  the  tears  drop  from 
her  eyes  upon  her  clumsy  fingers  as  she 
strove  to  make  them  obey  her  feeble  behests. 
At  such  a  moment  there  was  always  some 
one  to  fling  herself  with  passionate  ardor 
and  sympathy  into  this  latest  difficulty.  A 
stouter  weaving-needle  was  invented,  and  a 
mat  of  pretty  colored  morocco  substituted 
for  the  fragile  paper;  while  the  poor  inert 
hands  were  held  and  coaxed  and  strength 
ened  every  day  by  finger  gymnastics. 


HOW   THE  NEW  PLANT   GREW.         57 

As  Lisa  grew  in  power  Rhoda  grew  in 
ingenuity,  and  failure  in  any  one  particular 
only  stimulated  her  genius  of  invention  the 
more.     Did  she  spill  paste,  mucilage,  water, 
on  her  gingham  aprons,  and  wipe  anything 
and  everything  on  them  that  came  in  her 
way,  Rhoda  dressed  her  in  daintier  ones  of 
white  cambric,  with  a  ruffle  at  the  neck  and 
sleeves;  the  child's  pleasure  knew  no  bounds, 
and  she  kept  the  aprons  clean.     With  Mrs. 
Grubb's  permission  her  hair  was  cut  shorter, 
and  brushed  back  under  a  round  comb.    No 
regiment   of   soldiers  could  have  kept   the 
comb  in  place.     It  was  taken  away,  and  a 
blue    ribbon    substituted.     She   untied    the 
ribbon    every   five   minutes   for   two   days, 
when  Mary  circumvented  her  by  sewing  a 
blue  ribbon  on  each  sleeve.     This  seemed 
to  divert  her  attention  from  the  head-band, 
and  after  a  week  or  two  she  allowed  it  to 
remain  without  interference.    Mary  gave  her 
low  shoes,  hoping  that  the  lessened  trouble 
of  lacing  them  would  make  the  task  a  possi 
bility.     There  was  no  improvement.     If  she 
laced  them,  it  was  only  under  supervision, 
and  they  were  always  untied  within  the  hour, 
the  dangling   laces  tripping   her   awkward 
feet.     Slippers  or  old-fashioned  shoes  with 


58  HARM  LISA. 

elastic  at  the  side  would  have  been  an  easy 
way  out  of  the  difficulty,  but  to  Rhoda's 
mind  that  would  have  been  a  humiliating 
confession  of  failure.  As  a  last  resort  she 
bought  brown  shoes  and  brown  laces. 

"If  these  do  not  succeed,"  she  said,  "I 
will  have  red  ones  made,  paint  the  tips  blue, 
and  give  her  yellow  laces ;  but  I  will  fix  her 
mind  on  her  feet  and  arouse  her  pride  in 
them,  or  die  in  the  attempt." 

This  extreme,  fortunately,  proved  unnec 
essary,  since  for  some  unknown  reason  the 
brown  foot-gear  appealed  to  Marm  Lisa, 
and  she  kept  the  laces  tied.  The  salient 
peculiarity  and  encouraging  feature  of  the 
child's  development  was  that,  save  in  rare 
cases,  she  did  not  slip  back  into  her  old 
habits  when  the  novelty  of  the  remedy  wore 
off  ;  with  her,  almost  every  point  gained 
was  a  point  kept.  It  was  indeed  a  high 
Hill  Difficulty  that  she  was  climbing,  —  so 
high  that  had  she  realized  it  she  would 
never  have  taken  the  first  step  of  her  own 
unaided  will;  but  now  the  impelling  force 
behind  her  was  so  great,  and  the  visions 
forever  leading  her  on  were  so  beautiful, 
that  she  ran  nor  grew  weary,  she  walked 
yet  did  not  faint. 


HOW    THE   NEW  PLANT    GREW.         59 

The  other  children,  even  the  youngest  of 
them,  were  more  or  less  interested  in  the 
novel  enterprise,  too,  though  they  scarcely 
knew  the  nature  of  it  or  how  much  was  at 
stake.  That  a  human  mind  was  tottering 
to  its  fall,  and  that  Mistress  Mary  was 
engaged  in  preventing  it,  was  beyond  their 
ken.  They  could  see  certain  details,  how 
ever,  for  they  were  all  one  great  family  of 
little  people,  and  it  was  no  unaccustomed 
thing  for  them  to  watch  a  moral  conquest, 
though  they  had  no  conception  of  an  intel 
lectual  one. 

Accordingly,  there  was  a  shout  of  triumph 
from  a  corner  of  the  room  one  morning,  — 
such  a  shout  that  seventy  or  eighty  young 
sters  held  their  breath  to  see  what  was  hap 
pening. 

After  weeks  upon  weeks  of  torn  cards, 
broken  threads,  soiled  patterns,  wrong- 
stitches,  weak  hand  held  in  place  by  strong 
hand,  Marm  Lisa  had  sewed  without  help, 
and  in  one  lesson,  the  outline  of  a  huge  red 
apple ;  and  there  she  stood  offering  her  fin 
ished  work  to  Mistress  Mary!  The  angels 
in  heaven  never  rejoiced  more  greatly  over 
the  one  repentant  sinner  than  the  tired  shep 
herdesses  over  their  one  poor  ewe  lamb  as 


60  MARM  LISA. 

she  stood  there  with  quivering  hands  and 
wet  eyes,  the  first  sense  of  conscious  victory 
written  on  her  inscrutable  brow,  and  within 
the  turbid,  clouded  brain  the  memory  of  a 
long  struggle,  and  a  hint,  at  least,  of  the 
glory  she  had  achieved. 

Khoda  took  the  square  of  neat  cardboard 
with  the  precious  red  circle  that  meant  so 
much,  and  ran  into  the  playground  with  it, 
hugging  it  to  her  heart,  and  crying  and 
laughing  over  it  like  a  child. 

When  she  came  back,  Mistress  Mary  put 
her  arm  round  Lisa's  waist  and  said  to  the 
whole  great  family:  "Children,  after  trying 
hard  for  ever  so  long,  Lisa  has  sewed  this 
lovely  picture  all  by  herself.  There  is  not 
a  wrong  stitch,  and  one  side  is  as  neat  as 
the  other.  What  shall  we  say?  " 

"Three  cheers!  The  Chinese  must  go!  " 
shouted  Pat  Higgins,  a  patriotic  person  of 
five  years  whose  father  was  an  organizer  of 
sand -lot  meetings. 

All  the  grown-ups  laughed  at  this  unex 
pected  suggestion,  but  the  cheers  were  given 
with  a  good  will,  and  Marm  Lisa,  her  mind 
stirred  to  its  depths  by  the  unwonted  emo 
tion,  puzzled  out  the  meaning  of  them  and 
hid  it  in  her  heart. 


VI. 

FROM   GRUBB   TO   BUTTERFLY. 

THE  children  were  all  nearly  a  year  older 
when  Mrs.  Grubb  one  day  climbed  the 
flight  of  wooden  steps  leading  to  Marm 
Lisa's  Paradise,  and  met,  as  she  did  so,  a 
procession  of  Mistress  Mary's  neophytes 
who  were  wending  their  way  homeward. 

The  spectacle  of  a  number  of  persons  of 
either  sex,  or  of  both  sexes,  proceeding  in 
line  or  grouped  as  an  audience,  acted  on 
Mrs.  Grubb  precisely  as  the  taste  of  fresh 
blood  is  supposed  to  act  on  a  tiger  in  cap 
tivity.  At  such  a  moment  she  had  but  one 
impulse,  and  that  was  to  address  the  meet 
ing.  The  particular  subject  was  not  vital, 
since  it  was  never  the  subject,  but  her  own 
desire  to  talk,  that  furnished  the  necessary 
inspiration.  While  she  was  beginning, 
"Ladies  and  gentlemen,"  in  her  clear,  pleas 
ant  voice,  her  convictions,  opinions,  views, 
prejudices,  feelings,  experiences,  all  flew 
from  the  different  corners  of  what  she  was 


62  HARM  LISA. 

pleased  to  call  her  brain,  and  focused  them 
selves  on  the  point  in  question. 

If  the  discussion  were  in  a  field  in  which 
she  had  made  no  excursions  whatever,  that 
trifling  detail  did  not  impose  silence  upon 
her.     She  simply  rose  and  said:   "Ladies 
and  gentlemen,  though  a  stranger  in  your 
midst,  I  feel  I  must  say  a  word  of  sympathy 
to  you,  and  a  word  of  encouragement  for 
your  cause.     It  is  a  good  and  worthy  move 
ment,   and  I  honor  you  for  upholding  it. 
Often  and  often  have  I  said  to  my  classes, 
it  matters  not  what  face  of  truth  is  revealed 
to  you  so  long  as  you  get  a  vision  that  will 
help   you   to   bless   your   fellow  men.     To 
bless  your  fellow  men  is  the  great  task  be 
fore  each  and  every  one  of  us,  and  I  feel  to 
urge  this  specially  upon  occasions  like  this, 
when  I  see  a  large  and  influential  audience 
before  me.     Says  Rudyard  Kipling,  '  I  saw 
a  hundred  men  on  the  road  to  Delhi,  and 
they  were  all  my  brothers.'     Yes,  all  our 
brothers !     The  brotherhood  of  man  and  the 
sisterhood  of  woman,  those  are  the  subjects 
that  include  all  others.     I  am  glad  to  have 
met  with  you  and  to  have  heard  the  eloquent 
words   of   your    speakers.     If   any   of   you 
would  like  to  know  more  of  my  work,  I  will 


FROM   GRUBB    TO   BUTTERFLY.  63 

gladly  meet  you  in  room  A  at  the  close  of 
this  meeting." 

She  then  sat  down  amid  applause.  Never 
did  Mrs.  S.  Cora  Grubb  cease  speaking 
without  at  least  a  ripple  of  approval  that 
sometimes  grew  into  a  positive  ovation. 
What  wonder,  then,  that  she  mistook  her 
self  for  an  inspired  person  ?  It  was  easy  to 
understand  her  popularity  with  her  fellow 
men.  Her  eyes  were  as  soft  and  clear  as 
those  of  a  child,  her  hair  waved  prettily  off 
her  low  serene  brow,  her  figure  was  plump 
and  womanly,  and  when  her  voice  trembled 
with  emotion  (which  in  her  was  a  shallow 
well  very  near  the  surface)  the  charmingest 
pink  color  came  and  went  in  her  cheeks. 
On  such  occasions  more  than  one  member 
of  the  various  brotherhoods  thought  what 
a  cosy  wife  she  would  make,  if  removed 
from  the  public  arena  to  the  "sweet  safe 
corner  of  the  household  fire."  To  be  sure 
she  had  not  much  logic,  but  plenty  of  senti 
ment;  rather  too  great  a  fondness  for  hu 
manity,  perhaps,  but  that  was  because  she 
had  no  husband  and  family  of  her  own  to 
absorb  her  superfluous  sympathy  and  energy. 
Mrs.  Grubb  was  not  so  easily  classified  as 
these  "brothers"  imagined,  however,  and 


64  HARM  LISA. 

fortunately  for  them  she  had  no  leanings 
towards  any  man's  fireside.  Mr.  Grubb 
had  died  in  the  endeavor  to  understand  her, 
and  it  is  doubtful  whether,  had  he  been 
offered  a  second  life  and  another  opportu 
nity,  he  would  have  thought  the  end  justi 
fied  the  means. 

This  criticism,  however,  applies  only  to 
the  family  circle,  for  Mrs.  Grubb  in  a  hall 
was  ever  winning,  delightful,  and  persua 
sive.  If  she  was  illogical,  none  of  her  sister 
women  realized  it,  for  they  were  pretty 
much  of  the  same  chaotic  order  of  mind, 
though  with  this  difference :  that  a  certain 
proportion  of  them  were  everywhere  seeking 
reasons  for  their  weariness,  their  unhappi- 
ness,  their  poverty,  their  lack  of  faith  and 
courage,  their  unsatisfactory  husbands  and 
their  disappointing  children.  These  ladies 
were  apt  to  be  a  trifle  bitter,  and  much 
more  interested  in  Equal  Suffrage,  Temper 
ance,  Cremation,  and  Edenic  Diet  than  in 
subjects  like  Palmistry,  Telepathy,  and 
Hypnotism,  which  generally  attracted  the 
vague,  speculative,  feather  -  headed  ones. 
These  discontented  persons  were  always  the 
most  frenzied  workers  and  the  most  elo 
quent  speakers,  and  those  who  were  deter- 


FROM   GRUBB    TO  BUTTERFLY.  65 

mined  to  get  more  rights  were  mild  com 
pared  with  those  who  were  determined  to 
avenge  their  wrongs.  There  was,  of  course, 
no  unanimity  of  belief  running  through  all 
these  Clubs,  Classes,  Circles,  Societies, 
Orders,  Leagues,  Chapters,  and  Unions; 
but  there  was  one  bond  of  aversion,  and 
that  was  domestic  service  of  any  kind.  That 
no  woman  could  develop  or  soar  properly, 
and  cook,  scrub,  sweep,  dust,  wash  dishes, 
mend,  or  take  care  of  babies  at  the  same 
time, —  to  defend  this  proposition  they  would 
cheerfully  have  gone  to  the  stake.  They 
were  willing  to  concede  all  these  sordid  tasks 
as  an  honorable  department  of  woman's 
work,  but  each  wanted  them  to  be  done  by 
some  other  woman. 

Mrs.  Grubb  really  belonged  to  neither  of 
these  classes.  She  was  not  very  keen  about 
more  rights,  nor  very  bloodthirsty  about 
her  wrongs.  She  inhabited  a  kind  of  serene 
twilight,  the  sort  that  follows  an  especially 
pink  sunset.  She  was  not  wholly  clear  in 
her  mind  about  anything,  but  she  was  en 
tirely  hopeful  about  the  world  and  its  dispo 
sition  to  grow  and  move  in  ever  ascending 
spirals.  She  hated  housework  as  much  as 
any  of  her  followers,  although  she  was  sel- 


66  HARM  LISA. 

dom  allowed  to  do  anything  for  herself. 
"I'll  step  in  and  make  your  beds,  Mrs. 
Grubb;  I  know  you  're  tired."  "I  '11  sweep 
the  front  room,  Mrs.  Grubb;  you  give 
yourself  out  so,  I  know  you  need  rest." 
"Let  me  cook  your  supper  while  you  get  up 
strength  for  your  lecture ;  there  are  plenty 
of  people  to  cook,  but  there  's  only  one  Mrs. 
Grubb !  "  These  were  the  tender  solicita 
tions  she  was  ever  receiving. 

As  for  theories,  she  had  small  choice. 
She  had  looked  into  almost  every  device  for 
increasing  the  sum  of  human  knowledge 
and  hastening  the  millennium,  and  she 
thought  them  all  more  or  less  valuable. 
Her  memory,  mercifully,  was  not  a  reten 
tive  one,  therefore  she  remembered  little  of 
the  beliefs  she  had  outgrown;  they  never 
left  even  a  deposit  in  the  stretch  of  wet 
sand  in  which  they  had  written  themselves. 

She  had  investigated,  or  at  any  rate 
taught,  Delsarte,  Physical  Culture,  Dress- 
Reform,  the  Blue  -  glass  Cure,  Scientific 
Physiognomy,  Phrenology,  Cheiromancy, 
Astrology,  Vegetarianism,  Edenic  Diet, 
Single  Tax,  Evolution,  Mental  Healing, 
Christian  Science,  Spiritualism,  Theosophy, 
and  Hypnotism.  All  these  metamorphoses 


FROM   GRUBB    TO   BUTTERFLY.  67 

of  thought  had  Mrs.  S.  Cora  Grubb  passed 
through,  and  was  not  yet  a  finished  butter 
fly.  Some  of  the  ideas  she  had  left  far 
behind,  but  she  still  believed  in  them  as 
fragments  of  truth  suitable  for  feeble  grow 
ing  souls  that  could  not  bear  the  full  light 
of  revelation  in  one  burst.  She  held  honor 
ary  memberships  in  most  of  the  outgrown 
societies,  attended  annual  meetings  of  oth 
ers,  and  kept  in  touch  with  all  the  rest  by 
being  present  at  their  social  reunions. 

One  of  her  present  enthusiasms  was  her 
"Kipling  Brothers,"  the  boys'  band  enlisted 
under  the  motto,  "  I  saw  a  hundred  men  on 
the  road  to  Delhi,  and  they  were  all  my 
brothers."  She  believed  that  there  was  no 
salvation  for  a  boy  outside  of  a  band. 
Banded  somehow  he  must  be,  then  badged, 
beribboned,  bannered,  and  by-lawed.  From 
the  moment  a  boy's  mother  had  left  off  her 
bye-lows,  Mrs.  Grubb  wanted  him  put  un 
der  by-laws.  She  often  visited  Mistress 
Mary  with  the  idea  that  some  time  she 
could  interest  her  in  one  of  her  thousand 
schemes ;  but  this  special  call  was  to  see  if 
the  older  children,  whose  neat  handiwork 
she  had  seen  and  admired,  could  embroider 
mottoes  on  cardboard  to  adorn  the  Kipling 


68  MARM  LISA. 

room  at  an  approaching  festival,  She  par 
ticularly  wanted  "Look  not  upon  the  Wine  " 
done  in  blood-red  upon  black,  and  "Shun 
the  Filthy  Weed  "  in  smoke -color  on  bright 
green.  She  had  in  her  hand  a  card  with 
the  points  for  her  annual  address  noted 
upon  it,  for  this  sort  of  work  she  ordinarily 
did  in  the  horse-cars.  These  ran :  — 

1st.  Value  of  individuality,     "/saw." 

2d.  Value  of  observation.     "I  saw." 

3d.  Value  of  numbers.  "I  saw  a  hun 
dred  men." 

4th.  Importance  of  belonging  to  the  male 
sex.  It  was  men  who  were  seen  on  the 
road. 

5th.  What  and  where  is  Delhi? 

6th.   Description  of  the  road  thither, 

7th.  Every  boy  has  his  Delhi. 

8th.   Are  you  "on  the  road?" 

9th.  The  brotherhood  of  man. 

10th.  The  Kipling  Brothers'  Call  to 
Arms. 

She  intended  to  run  through  the  heads  of 
this  impassioned  oration  to  Mistress  Mary, 
whom  she  rather  liked ;  and,  in  truth,  Mary 
had  difficulty  in  disliking  her,  though  she 
thoroughly  disapproved  of  her.  She  was  so 
amiable,  and  apparently  so  susceptible  to 


FROM   GRUBB    TO   BUTTERFLY.  69 

teaching,  that  Mary  always  fancied  her  on 
the  verge  of  something  better.  Her  vaga 
ries,  her  neglects,  and  what  to  Mary's  mind 
were  positive  inhumanities  seemed  in  a  way 
unconscious.  "If  I  can  only  get  into  suffi 
ciently  friendly  relations,"  thought  Mary, 
"so  that  I  can  convince  her  that  her  first 
and  highest  duty  lies  in  the  direction  of  the 
three  children,  I  believe  she  will  have  the 
heroism  to  do  it!"  But  in  this  Mistress 
Mary's  instinct  was  at  fault.  Mrs.  Grubb 
took  indeed  no  real  cognizance  of  her  imme 
diate  surroundings,  but  she  would  not  have 
wished  to  see  near  duties  any  more  clearly. 
Neither  had  she  any  sane  and  healthy  inter 
est  in  good  works  of  any  kind;  she  simply 
had  a  sort  of  philanthropic  hysteria,  and 
her  most  successful  speeches  were  so  many 
spasms. 


VII. 

THE   COMET   AND    THE    FIXED    STAR. 

"I  DON'T  feel  that  I  can  part  with  Lisa 
now,  just  as  she  's  beginning  to  be  a  help  to 
me,"  argued  Mrs.  Grubb,  shortly  after  she 
had  been  welcomed  and  ensconced  in  a  rock 
ing-chair.  "  As  Madame  Goldmarker  says, 
nobody  else  in  the  world  would  have  given 
her  a  home  these  four  years,  and  a  good 
many  wouldn't  have  had  her  round  the 
house." 

"That  is  true,"  replied  Mary,  "and  your 
husband  must  have  been  a  very  good  man, 
from  all  you  tell  me,  Mrs.  Grubb." 

"Good  enough,  but  totally  uninterest 
ing,"  said  that  lady  laconically. 

"Well,  putting  aside  the  question  as  to 
whether  goodness  ought  to  be  totally  unin 
teresting,  you  say  that  Lisa's  mother  left 
Mr.  Grubb  three  hundred  dollars  for  her 
food  and  clothing,  and  that  she  has  been 
ever  since  a  willing  servant,  absolutely  de 
voted  to  your  interests." 


THE    COMET   AND    THE    FIXED    STAR.      71 

"  We  never  put  a  cent  of  the  three  hun 
dred  dollars  into  our  own  pockets,"  ex 
plained  Mrs.  Grubb.  "Mr.  Grubb  was 
dreadfully  opposed  to  my  doing  it,  but 
every  penny  of  it  went  to  freeing  our  reli 
gious  society  from  debt.  It  was  a  case  of 
the  greatest  good  of  the  greatest  number, 
and  I  didn't  flinch.  I  thought  it  was  a 
good  deal  more  important  that  the  Army  of 
Present  Perfection  should  have  a  roof  over 
its  head  than  that  Lisa  Bennett  should  be 
fed  and  clothed ;  that  is,  if  both  could  not 
be  done." 

"I  don't  know  the  creed  of  the  Army, 
but  it  seems  to  me  your  Presently  Perfect 
soldiers  would  have  been  rather  uncomfor 
table  under  their  roof,  if  Lisa  Bennett  had 
been  naked  and  starving  outside." 

"Oh,  it  would  never  have  come  to  that," 
responded  Mrs.  Grubb  easily.  "There  is 
plenty  of  money  in  the  world,  and  it  belongs 
equally  to  the  whole  human  race.  I  don't 
recognize  anybody's  right  to  have  a  dollar 
more  than  I  have;  but  Mr.  Grubb  could 
never  accept  any  belief  that  had  been  held 
less  than  a  thousand  years,  and  before  he 
died  he  gave  some  money  to  a  friend  of  his, 
and  told  him  to  pay  me  ten  dollars  every 


MARM  LISA. 


month  towards  Lisa's  board.  Untold  gold 
could  never  pay  for  what  my  pride  has  suf 
fered  in  having  her,  and  if  she  hadn't  been 
so  useful  I  couldn't  have  done  it,  —  I  don't 
pretend  that  I  could.  She  's  an  offense  to 
the  eye." 

"Not  any  longer,"  said  Mary  proudly. 

"Well,  she  was,  up  to*  a  few  months  ago; 
but  she  would  always  do  anything  for  the 
twins,  and  though  they  are  continually  get 
ting  into  mischief,  she  never  lets  any  harm 
come  to  them,  not  so  much  as  a  scratch. 
If  I  'd  taken  a  brighter  child,  she  would 
have  been  forever  playing  on  her  own  ac 
count  and  thinking  of  her  own  pleasure  ;  but 
if  you  once  get  an  idea  into  Lisa's  head  of 
what  you  expect  her  to  do,  she  will  go  on 
doing  it  to  the  end  of  the  world,  and  wild 
horses  couldn't  keep  her  from  it." 

"It  's  a  pity  more  of  us  hadn't  that  vir 
tue  of  obedience  to  a  higher  law." 

"Well,  perhaps  it  is,  and  perhaps  it 
isn't;  it  's  a  sign  of  a  very  weak  mind." 

"Or  a  very  strong  one,"  retorted  Mary. 

"There  are  natural  leaders  and  natural 
followers,"  remarked  Mrs.  Grubb  smilingly, 
as  she  swayed  to  and  fro  in  Mary's  rocking- 
chair.  Her  smile,  like  a  ballet  dancer's, 


THE    COMET  AND    THE   FIXED    STAR.      73 

had  no  connection  with,  nor  relation  to,  the 
matter  of  her  speech  or  her  state  of  feeling ; 
it  was  what  a  watchmaker  would  call  a 
detached  movement.  "I  can't  see,"  said 
she,  "that  it  is  my  duty  to  send  Lisa  away 
to  be  taught,  just  when  I  need  her  most. 
My  development  is  a  good  deal  more  impor 
tant  than  hers." 

"Why?" 

"Why?  Because  I  have  a  vocation  and 
a  mission;  because,  if  I  should  falter  or 
faint  by  the  wayside,  hundreds  of  women 
who  depend  on  rne  for  inspiration  would  fall 
back  into  error  and  suffer  permanent  loss 
and  injury." 

"Do  you  suppose  they  really  would?" 
asked  Mary  rather  maliciously,  anxious  if 
possible  to  ruffle  the  surface  of  Mrs.  Grubb's 
exasperating  placidity.  "Or  would  they, 
of  course  after  a  long  period  of  grief -stricken 
apathy,  attach  themselves  to  somebody  else's 
classes?  " 

"They  might,"  allowed  Mrs.  Grubb,  in 
a  tone  of  hurt  self-respect,  "  though  you 
must  know,  little  as  you  've  seen  of  the 
world,  that  no  one  woman  has  just  the  same 
revelation  as  any  other,  and  that  there  are 
some  who  are  born  to  interpret  truth  to  the 


74  MARM  LISA. 

multitude.  I  can  say  in  all  humility  that 
it  has  been  so  with  me  from  a  child.  I  've 
always  had  a  burning  desire  to  explore  the 
secret  chambers  of  Thought,  always  yearned 
to  understand  and  explain  the  universe." 

"I  have  never  tried  to  explain  it,"  sighed 
Mary  a  little  wearily;  "one  is  so  busy  try 
ing  to  keep  one's  little  corner  clean  and 
sweet  and  pleasant,  a  helpful  place  where 
sad  and  tired  souls  can  sit  down  and  rest." 

"Who  wants  to  sit  down  and  rest?  Not 
I  !"  exclaimed  Mrs.  Grubb.  "But  then, 
I  'm  110  criterion,  I  have  such  an  active 
mind." 

"There  are  just  a  few  passive  virtues," 
said  Mary  teasingly .  "  We  must  remember 
that  activity  does  n't  always  make  for  good; 
sometimes  it  is  unrest,  disintegration;  not 
growth,  Mrs.  Grubb,  but  fermentation." 

Mrs.  Grubb  took  out  a  small  blank-book 
and  made  a  note,  for  she  had  an  ear  for  any 
sentence  that  might  be  used  in  a  speech. 

"That  is  true.  '  Distrust  the  activity 
which  is  not  growth,  but  fermentation :  ' 
that  will  just  hit  some  ladies  in  my  classes, 
and  it  comes  right  in  with  something  I  am 
going  to  say  this  evening.  We  have  a  Diet 
Congress  here  this  week,  and  there  's  a  good 


THE  COMET  AND  THE  FIXED  STAR.   75 

deal  of  feeling  and  dispute  between  the 
various  branches.  I  have  two  delegates 
stopping  with  me,  and  they  have  n't  spoken 
to  each  other  since  yesterday  morning,  nor 
sat  down  to  eat  at  the  same  table.  I  shall 
do  all  I  can,  as  the  presiding  officer,  to 
keep  things  pleasant  at  the  meetings,  but  it 
will  be  difficult.  You've  never  been  in 
public  life  and  can't  understand  it,  but  you 
see  there  are  women  among  the  delegates 
who  've  suffered  the  tyranny  of  man  so  long 
that  they  will  cook  anything  their  husbands 
demand;  women  who  believe  in  eating  any 
kind  of  food,  and  hold  that  the  principal 
trouble  lies  in  bad  cooking;  women  who 
will  give  up  meat,  but  still  indulge  in  all 
sorts  of  cakes,  pastries,  and  kickshaws ;  and 
women  who  are  strong  on  temperance  in 
drink,  but  who  see  no  need  of  temperance 
in  food.  The  whole  question  of  diet  reform 
is  in  an  awful  state,  and  a  Congress  is  the 
only  way  to  settle  it." 

"How  do  men  stand  on  the  diet  ques 
tion?"  asked  Mary,  with  a  twinkle  in  her 
eye. 

"They  don't  stand  at  all,"  answered  Mrs. 
Grubb  promptly.  "They  sit  right  still,  and 
some  of  them  lie  down  flat,  you  might  say, 


76  MARM  LISA. 

whenever  it 's  mentioned.  They  '11  do  even 
more  for  temperance  than  they  will  for 
reformed  diet,  though  goodness  knows 
they  're  fond  enough  of  drinking.  The 
Edenites  number  about  sixty-seven  in  this 
city,  and  nine  is  the  largest  number  of  gen 
tlemen  that  we  've  been  able  to  interest. 
Those  nine  are  the  husbands  and  sons  of 
the  lady  members,  and  at  the  next  meeting 
two  of  them  are  going  to  be  expelled  for 
backsliding.  I  declare,  if  I  was  a  man, 
I  'd  be  ashamed  to  confess  that  I  was  all 
stomach;  but  that 's  what  most  of  them  are. 
Not  that  it's  easy  work  to  be  an  Edenite; 
it 's  impossible  to  any  but  a  highly  spiritual 
nature.  I  have  been  on  the  diet  for  six 
months,  and  nothing  but  my  position  as 
vice-president  of  the  society,  and  my  desire 
to  crush  the  body  and  release  the  spirit, 
could  have  kept  me  faithful.  I  don't  pre 
tend  to  like  it,  but  that  does  n't  make  me 
disloyal.  There  's  nothing  I  enjoy  better 
than  a  good  cut  of  underdone  beef,  with 
plenty  of  dish  gravy;  I  love  nice  tender 
porterhouse  steaks  with  mushrooms;  I  love 
thick  mutton-chops  broiled  over  a  hot  fire : 
but  I  can't  believe  in  them,  and  my  con 
science  won't  allow  me  to  eat  them.  Do 
you  believe  in  meat?  " 


THE    COMET  AND    THE   FIXED    STAR.      77 

"Certainly." 

"I  don't  see  why  you  say  'certainly.' 
You  would  be  a  good  deal  better  off  without 
it.  You  are  filling  yourself  full  of  carnal, 
brutal,  murderous  passions  every  time  you 
eat  it.  The  people  who  eat  meat  are  not 
half  so  elevated  nor  half  so  teachable  as  the 
Edenites." 

"The  Edenites  are  possibly  too  weak  and 
hungry  to  resist  instruction,"  said  Mary. 

"They  are  neither  weak  nor  hungry," 
replied  their  vice-president,  with  dignity. 
"They  eat  milk,  and  stewed  fruit,  and  all 
the  edible  grains  nicely  boiled.  It  stands 
to  reason  that  if  you  can  subdue  your 
earthly,  devilish,  sensual  instincts  on  any 
thing,  you  can  do  it  on  a  diet  like  that. 
You  can't  fancy  an  angel  or  a  Mahatma 
devouring  underdone  beef." 

"No,"  agreed  Mistress  Mary;  "but  for 
that  matter,  the  spectacle  of  an  angel  eating 
dried-apple  sauce  does  n't  appeal  to  my 
imagination." 

"It 's  no  joking  matter,"  said  Mrs. 
Grubb,  with  real  tears  in  her  eyes.  "It 
was  my  interest  in  Theosophy  that  brought 
me  to  the  Edenic  diet.  I  have  good  and 
sufficient  motives  for  denying  my  appetite, 


MARM  LISA. 


for  I  've  got  a  certain  goal  to  reach,  and 
I  'm  in  earnest." 

"Then  here  's  my  hand,  and  I  respect 
you  for  it.  Oh,  how  I  should  like  a  hot 
mutton-chop  at  this  moment  !  —  Do  forgive 


"I  forgive  you,  because  I  can  see  you  act 
up  to  all  the  light  that  has  been  revealed  to 
you.  I  don't  know  as  I  ought  to  be  proud 
because  I  see  so  much  truth.  My  classes 
tell  me  I  get  these  marvelous  revelations 
because  I  'm  so  open-minded.  Now  Mr. 
Grubb  would  n't  and  could  n't  bear  discus 
sion  of  any  sort.  His  soul  never  grew,  for 
he  wouldn't  open  a  chink  where  a  new  idea 
might  creep  in.  He  'd  always  accompany 
me  to  all  my  meetings  (such  advantages  as 
that  man  had  and  missed !),  and  sometimes 
he'd  take  the  admission  tickets;  but  when 
the  speaking  began,  he  'd  shut  the  door  and 
stay  out  in  the  entry  by  himself  till  it  was 
time  to  wait  upon  me  home.  Do  you  be 
lieve  in  vaccination?  " 

"Certainly." 

"Well,  it  passes  my  comprehension  how 
you  can  be  so  sure  of  your  beliefs.  You  'd 
better  come  and  hear  some  of  the  arguments 
on  the  opposite  side.  I  am  the  secretary 


THE    COMET  AND    THE   FIXED   STAR.      79 

of  the  Anti- Vaccination  League."  (Mrs. 
Grubb  was  especially  happy  in  her  anti- 
societies  ;  negatives  seemed  to  give  her  more 
scope  for  argument.)  "I  say  to  my  classes, 
'  You  must  not  blame  those  to  whom  higher 
truths  do  not  appeal,  for  refusing  to  believe 
in  that  which  they  cannot  understand;  but 
you  may  reprove  them  for  decrying  or  ridi 
culing  those  laws  or  facts  of  nature  which 
they  have  never  investigated  with  an  un 
prejudiced  mind. '  Well,  I  must  be  going. 
I  've  sat  longer  than  I  meant  to,  this  room 
is  so  peaceful  and  comfortable." 

"But  what  about  Lisa's  future?  We 
have  n't  settled  that,  although  we  've  had 
a  most  interesting  and  illuminating  conver 
sation." 

"Why,  I've  told  you  how  I  feel  about 
her,  and  you  must  respect  my  feeling.  The 
world  can  only  grow  when  each  person 
allows  his  fellow  man  complete  liberty  of 
thought  and  action.  I  've  kept  the  child 
four  years,  and  now  when  my  good  care 
and  feeding,  together  with  the  regular  work 
and  early  hours  I  've  always  prescribed, 
have  begun  to  show  their  fruits  in  her  im 
proved  condition,  you  want  she  should  be 
put  in  some  institution.  Why  is  n't  she 


80  MARM  LISA. 

doing  well  enough  as  she  is?  I  'm  sure 
you  've  had  a  wonderful  influence  over  her." 

"Nothing  could  induce  me  to  lose  sight 
of  her  entirely,"  said  Mistress  Mary,  ubut 
we  feel  now  that  she  is  ready  to  take  the 
next  step.  She  needs  a  skilled  physician 
who  is  master  both  of  body  and  mind,  as 
well  as  a  teacher  who  is  capable  of  follow 
ing  out  his  principles.  I  will  see  to  all 
that,  if  you  will  only  give  me  the  privilege." 

Mrs.  Grubb  sank  down  in  the  rocking- 
chair  in  despair.  "Don't  I  need  some  con 
sideration  as  well  as  that  little  imbecile? 
Am  I,  with  my  ambitions  and  aspirations, 
to  be  forever  hampered  by  these  three  night 
mares  of  children?  Oh,  if  I  could  once 
get  an  astral  body,  I  would  stay  in  it,  you 
may  be  sure! " 

"You  do  not  absolutely  need  Lisa  your 
self,"  argued  Mary.  "It  is  the  twins  to 
whom  she  has  been  indispensable.  Provide 
for  them  in  some  way,  and  she  is  freed  from 
a  responsibility  for  which  she  is  not  and 
never  was  fit.  It  is  a  miracle  that  some 
tragedy  has  not  come  out  of  this  daily  com 
panionship  of  three  such  passionate,  irre 
sponsible  creatures." 

"Some  tragedy  will  come  out  of  it  yet," 


THE   COMET  AND    THE  FIXED   STAR.      81 

said  Mrs.  Grubb  gloomily,  "  if  I  am  not 
freed  from  the  shackles  that  keep  me  in 
daily  slavery.  The  twins  are  as  likely  to 
go  to  the  gallows  as  anywhere ;  and  as  for 
Lisa,  she  would  be  a  good  deal  better  off 
dead  than  alive,  as  Mrs.  Sylvester  says." 

"That  is  n't  for  us  to  decide,"  said  Mis 
tress  Mary  soberly.  "I  might  have  been 
careless  and  impertinent  enough  to  say  it 
a  year  ago,  but  not  now.  Lisa  has  all 
along  been  the  victim  of  cruel  circumstances. 
Wherever  she  has  been  sinned  against 
through  ignorance,  it  is  possible,  barely 
possible,  that  the  fault  may  be  atoned  for ; 
but  any  neglect  of  duty  now  would  be  a 
criminal  offense.  It  does  not  behoove  us  to 
be  too  scornful  when  we  remember  that  the 
taint  (fortunately  a  slight  one)  transmitted 
to  poor  little  Lisa  existed  in  greater  or  less 
degree  in  Handel  and  Moliere,  Julius 
Csesar,  Napoleon,  Petrarch,  and  Moham 
med.  The  world  is  a  good  deal  richer  for 
them,  certainly." 

Mrs.  Grubb  elevated  her  head,  the  light 
of    interest   dawned   in   her   eye,    and   she 
whipped  her  note-book  out  of  her  pocket. 
"Is  that  a  fact?"  she  asked  excitedly. 
" It  is  a  fact." 


82  MARM  LISA. 

"Is  it  generally  known?  " 

"It  must  be  known  by  all  who  have  any 
interest  in  the  education  of  defective  per 
sons,  since  it  touches  one  of  the  bugbears 
which  they  have  to  fight." 

"Is  there  any  society  in  this  city  devoted 
to  the  study  of  such  problems? " 

"  There  is  a  society  which  is  just  on  the 
point  of  opening  an  institution  for  the  train 
ing  of  defective  children." 

Mrs.  Grubb's  face  fell,  and  her  hand 
relaxed  its  grasp  upon  the  pencil.  (If 
there  was  anything  she  enjoyed,  it  was  the 
sensation  of  being  a  pioneer  in  any  move 
ment.)  Presently  she  brightened  again. 

"If  it  is  just  starting,"  she  said,  "then 
it  must  need  more  members,  and  speakers 
to  stir  up  the  community.  Now  I  am  cal 
culated,  by  constant  association  with  a  child 
of  this  character,  to  be  of  signal  service  to 
the  cause.  Not  many  persons  have  had  my 
chance  to  observe  phenomena.  Just  give 
me  a  letter  to  the  president,  —  have  they 
elected  officers  yet?  —  where  do  they  meet? 
—  and  tell  him  I  '11  call  on  him  and  throw 
all  the  weight  of  my  influence  on  his  side. 
It 's  wonderful !  Handel,  Moliere,  Buddha, 
was  it  —Buddha?  —  Caesar,  Petrarch,  and 


THE    COMET  AND    THE   FIXED   STAR.      83 

Wellington,  —no,  not  Wellington.  Never 
mind,  I  '11  get  a  list  from  you  to-morrow 
and  look  it  all  up,  —it 's  perfectly  marvel 
ous!  And  I  have  one  of  this  great,  un 
happy,  suffering  class  in  my  own  family, 
one  who  may  yet  be  transformed  into  an 
Elizabeth  Browning  or  a  Joan  of  Arc ! ' 

Mistress  Mary  sighed  in  her  heart.  She 
learned  more  of  Mrs.  Grubb  with  every 
interview,  and  she  knew  that  her  enthusi 
asms  were  as  discouraging  as  her  apathies. 

"How  unlucky  that  I  mentioned  Napo 
leon,  Caesar,  and  Mohammed!  "  she 
thought.  "I  shall  be  haunted  now  by  the 
fear  that  she  will  go  on  a  lecturing-tour 
through  the  country,  and  exhibit  poor  Lisa 
as  an  interesting  example.  Mrs.  Grubb 's 
mind  is  like  nothing  so  much  as  a  crazy- 
quilt." 


VIII. 

THE  YOUNG  MINISTERS   PSYCHOLOGICAL 
OBSERVATIONS. 

MRS.  GRUBB'S  interest  in  the  education 
of  the  defective  classes  was  as  short-lived 
as  it  was  ardent.  One  interview  with  the 
president  of  the  society  convinced  her  that 
he  was  not  a  person  to  be  "helped  "  accord 
ing  to  her  understanding  of  the  term.  She 
thought  him  a  self-sufficient  gentleman,  in 
flexible  in  demeanor,  and  inhospitable  to 
anybody's  ideas  or  anybody's  hobbies  but 
his  own.  She  resented  his  praise  of  Mis 
tress  Mary  and  Rhoda,  and  regarded  it  ful 
some  flattery  when  he  alluded  to  their  ex 
periment  with  Marm  Lisa  as  one  of  the 
most  interesting  and  valuable  in  his  whole 
experience;  saying  that  he  hardly  knew 
which  to  admire  and  venerate  the  more,  the 
genius  of  the  teachers,  or  the  devotion, 
courage,  and  docility  of  the  pupil. 

In  the  summer  months  Lisa  had  gone  to 
the  country  with  Mistress  Mary  and  Edith, 


PSYCHOLOGICAL    OBSERVATIONS.        85 

who  were  determined  never  to  lose  sight  of 
her  until  the  end  they  sought  was  actually 
attained.  There,  in  the  verdant  freshness 
of  that  new  world,  Lisa  experienced  a 
strange  exaltation  of  the  senses.  Every 
wooded  path  unfolded  treasures  of  leaf, 
bud,  blossom,  and  brier,  and  of  beautiful 
winged  things  that  crept  and  rustled  among 
the  grasses.  There  was  the  ever  new  sur 
prise  of  the  first  wild  flowers,  the  abounding 
mystery  of  the  bird's  note  and  the  brook's 
song,  the  daily  greeting  of  bees  and  butter 
flies,  frogs  and  fishes,  field  mice  and  squir 
rels;  so  that  the  universe,  which  in  the 
dead  past  had  been  dreary  and  without 
meaning,  suddenly  became  warm  and 
friendly,  and  she,  the  alien,  felt  a  sense  of 
kinship  with  all  created  things. 

Helen  had  crossed  the  continent  to  im 
bibe  the  wisdom  of  the  East,  and  had 
brought  back  stores  of  knowledge  to  spend 
in  Lisa's  service;  but  Rhoda's  sacrifice  was 
perhaps  the  most  complete,  for  Mrs.  Grubb 
having  at  first  absolutely  refused  to  part 
with  Lisa,  Ehoda  had  flung  herself  into  the 
breach  and  taken  the  twins  to  her  mother's 
cottage  in  the  mountains. 

She  came  up  the  broad  steps,  on  a  certain 


86  HARM  LISA. 

appointed  day  in  August,  leading  her 
charges  into  Mistress  Mary's  presence. 
They  were  clean,  well  dressed,  and  some 
what  calm  in  demeanor. 

"You  may  go  into  the  playground,"  she 
said,  after  the  greetings  were  over;  "and 
remember  that  there  are  sharp  spikes  on 
the  high  fence  by  the  pepper-tree." 

"Mary,"  she  went  on  impressively,  clos 
ing  the  doors  and  glancing  about  the  room 
to  see  if  there  were  any  listeners,  "Mary, 
those  children  have  been  with  me  eight 
weeks,  and  I  do  —  not  —  like  —  them. 
What  are  you  going  to  do  with  me  ?  Wait, 
I  have  n't  told  you  the  whole  truth,  —  I 
dislike  them  actively.  As  for  my  mother, 
she  is  not  committed  to  any  theory  about 
the  essential  integrity  of  infancy,  and  she 
positively  abhors  them." 

"Then  they  are  no  more  likable  in  the 
bosom  of  the  family  than  they  have  been 
here?"  asked  Mary,  in  a  tone  of  "disap 
pointment. 

"More  likable?  They  are  less  so!  Do 
you  see  any  change  in  me,  —  a  sort  of  spir 
itual  effulgence,  a  saintly  radiance,  such  as 
comes  after  a  long  spell  of  persistent  virtue  ? 
Because  there  ought  to  be,  if  my  summer 
has  served  its  purpose." 


PSYCHOLOGICAL    OBSERVATIONS.         87 

"  Poor  dear  rosy  little  martyr !  Sit  down 
and  tell  me  all  about  it." 

44  Well,  we  have  kept  a  log,  but " 

"  '  We  ?  '  What,  Rhoda,  did  you  drag 
your  poor  mother  into  the  experiment?" 

"Mother?  No,  she  generally  locked 
herself  in  her  room  when  the  twins  were 
indoors,  but  —  well,  of  course  I  had  help 
of  one  sort  and  another  with  them.  I  have 
held  to  your  plan  of  discipline  pretty  well; 
at  any  rate,  I  have  n't  administered  corporal 
punishment,  although  if  I  had  whipped  them 
whenever  they  actually  needed  it,  I  should 
have  worn  out  all  the  young  minister's  slip 
pers." 

Mary  groaned.  "Then  there  was  an 
other  young  minister?  It  does  n't  make 
any  difference,  Rhoda,  whether  you  spend 
your  summers  in  the  woods  or  by  the  sea, 
in  the  valleys  or  on  the  mountains,  there  is 
always  a  young  minister.  Have  all  the  old 
ones  perished  off  the  face  of  the  earth, 
pray?  And  what  do  the  young  ones  see  in 
you,  you  dear  unregenerate,  that  they  per 
sist  in  following  you  about,  threatening  my 
peace  of  mind  and  your  future  career? 
Well,  goon!" 

"Debarred  from  the  use  of  the  persuasive 


88  HARM  LISA. 

but    obsolete    slipper,"    Ehoda    continued 
evasively,   "I  tried  milder  means  of  disci 
pline,  —  solitary  confinement  for  one ;    not 
very   much,    you    know,  —  only    seventeen 
times  in  eight  weeks.     I  hope  you   don't 
object  to  that  ?    Of  course  it  was  in  a  pleas 
ant    room   with    southern    exposure,    good 
view  and  good  ventilation,  a  thermometer, 
picture-books,  and  all  that.     It  would  have 
worked  better  if  the  twins  had  n't  always 
taken  the  furniture  to  pieces,  and  mother  is 
so  fussy  about  anything  of  that  sort.     She 
finally   suggested   the  winter   bedroom   for 
Atlantic's  incarceration,  as  it  has  nothing 
in  it  but  a  huge  coal-stove  enveloped  in  a 
somewhat    awe-inspiring    cotton    sheet.     I 
put  in  a  comfortable  low  chair,  a  checker 
board,  and  some  books,  fixing  the  time  limit 
at  half  an  hour.     By  the  way,  Mary,  that 's 
such  a  pretty  idea  of  yours  to  leave  the  door 
unlocked,  and  tell  the  children  to  come  out 
of  their  own  accord  whenever  they  feel  at 
peace  with  the  community.     I  tried  it,  — 
oh,  I  always  try  your  pretty  ideas  first;  but 
I  had  scarcely  closed  the  door  before  Pacific 
was  out  of  it  again,  a  regenerated  human 
being  according  to  her  own  account.     But 
to  return  to  Atlantic.     I  went  to  him  when 


PSYCHOLOGICAL    OBSERVATIONS.         89 

the  clock  struck,  only  to  discover  that  he 
had  broken  in  the  circles  of  isinglass  round 
the  body  of  the  coal-stove,  removed  the 
ashes  with  a  book,  got  the  dampers  out  of 
order,  and  taken  the  doors  off  the  hinges! 
I  am  sure  Mrs.  Grubb  is  right  to  keep  them 
on  bread  and  milk  and  apple  sauce;  a 
steady  diet  of  beef  and  mutton  would  give 
them  a  simply  unconquerable  energy.  Oh, 
laugh  as  you  may,  I  could  never  have  lived 
through  the  ordeal  if  it  had  n't  been  for  the 
young  minister!  " 

"Do  you  mean  that  he  became  interested 
in  the  twins?" 

"  Oh  yes !  —  very  deeply  interested.  You 
have  heard  me  speak  of  him:  it  was  Mr. 
Fielding." 

"Why,  Rhoda,  he  was  the  last  summer's 
minister,  the  one  who  preached  at  the  sea 
shore." 

"Certainly;  but  he  was  only  supplying 
a  pulpit  there ;  now  he  has  his  own  parish. 
He  is  taking  up  a  course  of  child-study, 
and  asked  me  if  he  was  at  liberty  to  use 
the  twins  for  psychological  observations.  I 
assented  most  gratefully,  thinking,  you 
know,  that  he  could  n't  study  them  unless 
he  kept  them  with  him  a  good  deal ;  but  he 


90  HARM  LISA. 

counted  without  his  host,  as  you  can  imag 
ine.  He  lives  at  the  hotel  until  his  cottage 
is  finished,  and  the  first  thing  I  knew  he 
had  hired  a  stout  nursemaid  as  his  contri 
bution  to  the  service  of  humanity.  I  think 
he  was  really  sorry  for  me,  for  I  was  so 
confined  I  could  scarcely  ever  ride,  or  drive, 
or  play  tennis ;  and  besides,  he  simply  had 
to  have  somebody  to  hold  the  children  while 
he  observed  them.  We  succeeded  better 
after  the  nurse  came,  and  we  all  had  de 
lightful  walks  and  conversations  together, 
just  a  nice  little  family  party!  The  hotel 
people  called  Atlantic  the  Cyclone  and 
Pacific  the  Warrior.  Sometimes  strangers 
took  us  for  the  children's  parents,  and  that 
was  embarrassing;  not  that  I  mind  being 
mistaken  for  a  parent,  but  I  decline  being- 
credited,  or  discredited,  with  the  maternity 
of  those  imps! " 

"They  are  altogether  new  in  my  expe 
rience,"  confessed  Mary. 

"That  is  just  what  the  young  minister 
said." 

"Will  he  keep  up  his  psychological  in 
vestigation  during  the  autumn?"  Mary  in 
quired. 

"He  really  has  no  material  there." 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  OBSERVATIONS.    91 

"What  will  he  do  then,  — carry  it  on  by 
correspondence  ?  " 

"No,  that  is  always  unsatisfactory.  I 
fancy  he  will  come  here  occasionally :  it  is 
the  most  natural  place,  and  he  is  especially 
eager  to  meet  you." 

"Of  course!"  said  Mistress  Mary,  recit 
ing  provokingly :  — 

"  '  My  lyre  I  tune,  my  voice  I  raise, 

But  with  my  numbers  mix  my  sighs, 
And  whilst  I  singEuphelia's  praise 
I  fix  my  soul  on  Chloe's  eyes.' 

How  delightful,"  she  added,  "how  inspir 
ing  it  is  to  see  a  young  man  so  devoted  to 
science,  particularly  to  this  neglected  sci 
ence  !  I  shall  be  charmed  to  know  more  of 
his  psychology  and  observe  his  observa 
tions." 

"He  is  extremely  clever." 

"  I  have  no  doubt  of  it  from  what  you  tell 
me,  both  clever  and  ingenious." 

"And  his  cottage  is  lovely;  it  will  be 
finished  and  furnished  by  next  summer,  — 
Queen  Anne,  you  know." 

Now  this  was  so  purely  irrelevant  that 
there  was  a  wicked  hint  of  intention  about  it, 
and  though  Mistress  Mary  was  smiling  (and 
quaking)  in  the  very  depths  of  her  heart, 


92  HARM  LISA. 

she  cruelly  led  back  the  conversation  into 
safe  educational  channels.  "Isn't  it  curi 
ous,"  she  said,  "that  we  should  have  thought 
Lisa,  not  the  twins,  the  impossible  problem  ? 
Yet,  as  I  have  written  you,  her  solution  is 
something  to  which  we  can  look  forward 
with  reasonable  confidence.  It  is  scarcely 
eighteen  months,  but  the  work  accomplished 
is  almost  incredible,  even  to  me,  and  I  have 
watched  and  counted  every  step." 

"The  only  explanation  must  be  this," 
said  Khoda,  "that  her  condition  was  largely 
the  fruit  of  neglect  and  utter  lack  of  com 
prehension.  The  state  of  mind  and  body 
in  which  she  came  to  us  was  out  of  all  pro 
portion  to  the  moving  cause,  when  we  dis 
covered  it.  Her  mother  thought  she  would 
be  an  imbecile,  the  Grubbs  treated  her  as 
one,  and  nobody  cared  to  find  out  what  she 
really  was  or  could  be." 

"Her  brain  had  been  writ  upon  by  the 
4  moving  finger,'"  quoted  Mary,  "though 
the  writing  was  not  graved  so  deep  but  that 
love  and  science  could  erase  it.  You  re 
member  the  four  lines  in  Omar  Khayyam? 

"'The  moving  finger  writes;  and,  having  writ, 
Moves  on:  nor  all  your  piety  nor  Avit 

Shall  lure  it  back  to  cancel  half  a  line, 
Nor  all  your  tears  wash  out  a  word  of  it.'  " 


PSYCHOLOGICAL    OBSERVATIONS.         93 

"Edith  says  I  will  hardly  know  her," 
said  Rhoda. 

"It  is  true.  The  new  physician  is  a 
genius,  and  physically  and  outwardly  she 
has  changed  more  in  the  last  three  months 
than  in  the  preceding  year.  She  dresses 
herself  neatly  now,  braids  her  own  hair,  and 
ties  her  ribbons  prettily.  Edith  has  kept 
up  her  gymnastics,  and  even  taught  her  to 
row  and  play  nine -pins.  For  the  first  time 
in  my  life,  Rhoda,  I  can  fully  understand 
a  mother's  passion  for  a  crippled,  or  a 
blind,  or  a  defective  child.  I  suppose  it 
was  only  Lisa's  desperate  need  that  drew 
us  to  her  at  first.  We  all  loved  and  pitied 
her,  even  at  the  very  height  of  her  afflic 
tion;  but  now  she  fascinates  me.  I  know 
no  greater  pleasure  than  the  daily  miracle 
of  her  growth.  She  is  to  me  the  sister  I 
never  had,  the  child  I  never  shall  have. 
When  we  think  of  our  success  with  this 
experiment,  we  must  try  to  keep  our  faith 
in  human  nature,  even  under  the  trying 
ordeal  of  the  twins." 

"My  faith  in  human  nature  is  absolutely 
intact,"  answered  Rhoda;  "the  trouble  is 
that  the  Warrior  and  the  Cyclone  are  not 
altogether  human.  Atlantic  is  the  cold- 


94  MARM  LISA. 

est  creature  I  ever  knew,  —  so  cold  that 
he  could  stand  the  Shadrach-Meshech-and- 
Abediiego  test  with  impunity;  Pacific  is 
hot,  —  so  hot-tempered  that  one  can  hardly 
touch  her  without  being  scorched.  If  I 
had  money  enough  to  conduct  an  expensive 
experiment,  I  would  separate  them,  and 
educate  Pacific  at  the  North  Pole  and 
Atlantic  in  the  tropics." 

"If  they  are  not  distinctly  human,  we 
must  allow  them  a  few  human  virtues  at 
least,"  said  Mary;  "for  example,  their  loy 
alty  to  each  other.  Pacific,  always  at  war 
with  the  community,  seldom  hurts  her  bro 
ther;  Atlantic,  selfish  and  grasping  with 
all  the  world,  shares  generously  with  his 
sister.  We  must  remember,  too,  that  Lisa's 
care  has  been  worse  than  nothing  for  them, 
notwithstanding  its  absolute  fidelity,  and 
their  dependence  has  been  a  positive  injury 
to  her.  There!  she  has  just  come  into 
the  playground  with  Edith.  Will  wonders 
never  cease?  Pacific  is  embracing  her 
knees,  and  Atlantic  allows  himself  to  be 
hugged! " 

Marm  Lisa  was  indeed  beside  herself 
with  joy  at  the  meeting.  She  clung  to  the 
infant  rebels,  stroked  their  hair,  admired 


PSYCHOLOGICAL    OBSERVATIONS.         95 

their  aprons,  their  clean  hands,  their  new 
boots;  and,  on  being  smartly  slapped  by 
Atlantic  for  putting  the  elastic  of  his  hat 
behind  his  ears,  kissed  his  hand  as  if  it  had 
offered  a  caress.  "He  's  so  little,"  she  said 
apologetically,  looking  up  with  wet  eyes  to 
Edith,  who  stood  near. 


IX. 

HARM   LISA'S   QUEST. 

IT  was  not  long  after  this  conversation 
that  the  twins  awoke  one  morning  with  a 
very  frenzy  of  adventure  upon  them.  It 
was  accompanied  by  a  violent  reaction 
against  all  the  laws  of  God  and  man,  and 
a  desire  to  devour  the  tree  of  knowledge, 
fruit,  limbs,  and  trunk,  no  matter  at  what 
cost. 

We  have  no  means  of  knowing  whether 
there  was  an  excess  of  electricity  in  the 
atmosphere,  whether  their  youthful  livers 
were  disordered,  or  whether  the  Evil  One 
was  personally  conducting  the  day's  exer 
cises;  judged  by  the  light  of  subsequent 
events,  all  of  these  suppositions  might  easily 
have  been  true.  During  the  morning  they 
so  demeaned  themselves  that  all  Mistress 
Mary's  younger  neophytes  became  apostates 
to  the  true  faith,  and  went  over  in  a  body 
to  the  theory  of  the  total  depravity  of  un- 
baptized  infants. 


MARM  LISA'S    QUEST.  97 

In  the  afternoon  they  did  not  appear,  nor 
did  Harm  Lisa.  This  was  something  that 
had  never  occurred  before,  save  when  Pacific 
had  a  certain  memorable  attack  of  mumps 
that  would  have  carried  off  any  child  who 
was  fitted  for  a  better  world,  or  one  who 
was  especially  beloved. 

uDo  you  suppose  anything  is  wrong?" 
asked  Mary  nervously. 

"Of  course  not,"  said  Edith.  " I  remem 
ber  seeing  Lisa  in  the  playground  at  one 
o'clock,  but  my  impression  is  that  she  was 
alone,  and  stayed  only  a  moment.  At  any 
rate,  I  was  very  busy  and  did  not  speak  to 
her.  Mrs.  Grubb  has  probably  taken  the 
twins  to  have  their  hair  cut,  or  something 
of  that  sort." 

"What  a  ridiculous  suggestion!"  ex 
claimed  Rhoda.  "You  know  perfectly  well 
that  Mrs.  Grubb  would  never  think  of  cut 
ting  their  hair,  if  it  swept  the  earth!  She 
may  possibly  have  taken  them  to  join  a 
band;  they  must  be  getting  to  a  proper 
age  for  membership.  At  any  rate,  I  will 
call  there  and  inquire,  on  my  way  home, 
although  I  can  never  talk  to  Mrs.  Grubb 
two  minutes  without  wanting  to  shake  her." 
Rhoda  made  her  promised  visit,  but  the 


98  HARM  LISA. 

house  was  closed,  and  the  neighbors  knew 
nothing  of  the  whereabouts  of  the  children 
beyond  the  fact  that  Mrs.  Grubb  was  seen 
talking  to  them  as  she  went  into  the  yard, 
a  little  after  twelve  o'clock.  Ehoda  natu 
rally  concluded,  therefore,  that  Edith's 
supposition  must  be  correct,  and  that  Mrs. 
Grubb  had  for  once  indulged  in  a  family 
excursion. 

Such  was  not  the  case,  however.  After 
luncheon,  Marm  Lisa  had  washed  the  twins' 
hands  and  faces  in  the  back  yard  as  usual, 
and  left  them  for  an  instant  to  get  a  towel 
from  the  kitchen.  When  she  returned,  she 
looked  blankly  about,  for  there  was  no  sign 
of  the  two  dripping  faces  and  the  uplifted 
streaming  hands.  They  had  a  playful  habit 
of  hiding  from  her,  knowing  that  in  no 
other  way  could  they  make  her  so  unhappy ; 
so  she  stood  still  for  some  moments,  calling 
them,  at  first  sharply,  then  piteously,  but 
with  no  result.  She  ran  to  the  front  gate : 
it  was  closed;  the  rope-fastening  was  out  of 
reach,  and  plainly  too  complicated  even  for 
their  preternatural  powers.  She  hurried 
back  to  the  house,  and  searched  every  room 
in  a  bewildered  sort  of  fashion,  finding 
nothing.  As  she  came  out  again,  her  eye 


HARM  LISA'S    QUEST.  99 

caught  sight  of  a  kitchen  chair  in  the  corner 
of  the  yard.  They  had  climbed  the  picket 
fence,  then.  Yes;  Atlantic,  while  availing 
himself  of  its  unassuming  aid,  had  left  a 
clue  in  a  fragment  of  his  trousers.  She 
opened  the  gate,  and  ran  breathlessly  along 
the  streets  to  that  Garden  of  Eden  where 
joy  had  always  hitherto  awaited  her.  Some 
instinct  of  fear  or  secrecy  led  her  to  go 
quietly  through  all  the  rooms  and  search 
the  playground,  without  telling  any  one  of 
her  trouble.  That  accomplished  fruitlessly, 
she  fled  home  again,  in  the  vain  hope  of 
finding  the  children  in  some  accustomed 
haunt  overlooked  in  her  first  search.  She 
began  to  be  thoroughly  alarmed  now,  and 
thoroughly  confused.  With  twitching  hands 
and  nervous  shaking  of  the  head,  she  hur 
ried  through  the  vacant  rooms,  growing 
more  and  more  aimless  in  her  quest.  She 
climbed  on  a  tall  bureau  and  looked  in  a 
tiny  medicine  cupboard;  then  under  the 
benches  and  behind  the  charts  in  the  parlor ; 
even  under  the  kitchen  sink,  among  the 
pots  and  pans,  and  in  the  stove,  where  she 
poked  tremulously  in  the  ashes.  Her  new 
found  wit  seemed  temporarily  to  have  de 
serted  her,  and  she  was  a  pitiable  thing  as 


100  HARM  LISA. 

she  wandered  about,  her  breath  coming  in 
long-drawn  sighs,  with  now  and  then  a  half- 
stifled  sob. 

Suddenly  she  darted  into  the  street  again. 
Perhaps  they  had  followed  their  aunt  Cora. 
Distance  had  no  place  in  her  terror-stricken 
heart.  She  traversed  block  after  block, 
street  after  street,  until  she  reached  Poca- 
hontas  Hall,  a  building  and  locality  she 
knew  well.  She  crept  softly  up  the  main 
stairs,  and  from  the  landing,  slipped  into 
the  gallery  above.  Mrs.  Grubb  sat  in  the 
centre  of  the  stage,  with  a  glass  of  water, 
a  bouquet  of  roses,  and  a  bundle  of  papers 
and  tracts  on  the  table  by  her  side.  In  the 
audience  were  twenty  or  thirty  women  and 
a  dozen  men,  their  laps  filled,  and  their 
pockets  bulging,  with  propaganda.  They 
stood  at  intervals  to  ask  superfluous  or 
unanswerable  questions,  upon  which  Mrs. 
Grubb  would  rise  and  reply,  with  cheeks 
growing  pink  and  pinker,  with  pleasant 
smile  and  gracious  manner,  and  a  voice 
fairly  surcharged  with  conviction.  Most 
of  the  ladies  took  notes,  and  a  girl  with  a 
receding  chin  was  seated  at  a  small  table  in 
front  of  the  platform,  making  a  steno 
graphic  report. 


HARM  LISA'S    QUEST.  101 

All  this  Marm  Lisa  saw,  but  her  eyes 
rested  on  nothing  she  longed  to  see.  Mrs. 
Grubb's  lecture-voice  rose  and  fell  melodi 
ously,  floating  up  to  her  balcony  heights  in 
a  kind  of  echo  that  held  the  tone,  but  not 
the  words.  The  voice  made  her  drowsy, 
for  she  was  already  worn  out  with  emotion, 
but  she  roused  herself  with  an  effort,  and 
stole  down  the  stairs  to  wander  into  the 
street  again.  Ah,  there  was  an  idea!  The 
coat-shop !  Why  had  she  not  thought  of  it 
before  ? 

The  coat-shop  was  a  sort  of  clothing 
manufactory  on  a  small  scale,  a  tall,  narrow 
building  four  stories  high,  where  she  had 
often  gone  with  Atlantic  and  Pacific.  There 
were  sewing-machines  on  the  ground  floor, 
the  cutters  and  pressers  worked  in  the  mid 
dle  stories,  and  at  the  top  were  the  finishers. 
It  was  neither  an  extensive  nor  an  exciting 
establishment,  and  its  only  fascination  lay 
in  the  fact  that  the  workwomen  screamed 
with  laughter  at  the  twins'  conversation, 
and  after  leading  them  to  their  utmost 
length,  teasing  and  goading  them  into  a 
towering  passion,  would  stuff  them  with 
nuts  or  dates  or  cheap  sweetmeats.  The 
coat-shop  was  two  or  three  miles  from  the 


102  MAR M  LISA. 

hall,  and  it  was  closing-time  and  quite  dark 
when  Lisa  arrived.  She  came  out  of  the 
door  after  having  looked  vainly  in  every 
room,  and  sat  down  dejectedly  in  the  en 
trance,  with  her  weary  head  leaning  against 
the  wall.  There  was  but  a  moment's  respite 
for  her,  for  the  manager  came  out  of  his 
office,  and  stumbling  over  her  in  the  dusk, 
took  her  by  the  shoulders  and  pushed  her 
into  the  street  with  an  oath. 

"Go  and  sit  on  your  own  doorstep,  can't 
you,"  he  muttered,  "and  not  make  me 
break  my  legs  over  you!  " 

She  was  too  spent  to  run  any  farther. 
She  dragged  her  heavy  feet  along  slowly, 
almost  unconsciously,  neither  knowing  nor 
caring  whither  they  led  her.  Home  she 
could  not,  dared  not  go,  bearing  that  heavy 
burden  of  remorse!  Mrs.  Grubb  would 
ask  for  Atlantic  and  Pacific,  and  then  what 
would  become  of  her?  Mr.  Grubb  would 
want  to  give  Pacific  her  milk.  No,  Mr. 
Grubb  was  dead.  There!  she  hadn't 
looked  in  the  perambulator.  No,  there 
wasn't  any  perambulator.  That  was  dead, 
too,  and  gone  away  with  Mr.  Grubb. 
There  used  to  be  babies,  two  babies,  in  the 
perambulator.  What  had  become  of  them  ? 


MARM  LISA'S    QUEST.  103 

Were  they  lost,   too?     And  the   umbrella 
that  she  used  to  hold  until  her  arm  ached, 
and  the  poor  pale  weeping  mother  always 
lying  on  a  bed,  —  were  they  all   gone   to 
gether  ?    Her  head  buzzed  with  worrying,  un 
related  thoughts,    so  that  she  put  up   her 
hands  and  held  it  in  place  on  her  shoulders 
as   she   shuffled   wearily   along.     A    heavy 
dripping  mist  began  to  gather  and  fall,  and 
she  shivered  in  the  dampness,  huddling  her 
self  together  and  leaning  against  the  houses 
for  a  shelter.     She  sat  down  on  the  curb 
stone  and  tried  to  think,  staring  haggardly 
at  the  sign  011  the  corner  fruit-shop.     In 
that  moment  she  suddenly  forgot  the  reason 
of  her  search.     She  had  lost  —  what?     She 
could  not  go  home  to  Eden  Place,  but  why  ? 
Oh   yes!    it   came  to  her  now:   there  was 
something  about  a  perambulator,  but  it  all 
seemed  vague  to   her.     Suddenly  a   lamp 
lighter  put  his  ladder  against  a  post  in  front 
of  her,  and  climbing  up  nimbly  lighted  the 
sas-iet  inside  of  the  glass  frame.     It  shone 

o  J 

full  on  a  flight  of  broad  steps,  a  picture  so 
much   a   part   of   her   life-dream   that   she 
would  go  up  to  the  very  gate  of  heaven  with 
its  lines  burned  into  her  heart  and  brain. 
She  crept  up  and  turned  the  knob  of  the 


104  HARM  LISA. 

outer  door.  It  was  unlocked,  and  she  stole 
into  the  inner  room,  the  Paradise,  place  of 
joy  and  sweet  content,  heart's  rest,  soul's 
heaven,  love's  own  abode.  The  very  atmo 
sphere  soothed  her.  She  heard  the  janitress 
clatter  through  the  halls,  lock  the  door,  and 
descend  the  stairs  to  her  own  rooms  in  the 
basement.  The  light  from  the  street  lamps 
shone  in  at  the  two  end  windows,  so  that 
the  room  was  not  in  utter  darkness.  She 
would  lie  down  here  and  die  with  Mr. 
Grubb  and  the  babies  and  the  umbrella. 
Atlantic  and  Pacific  would  be  sure  to  come 
back ;  nobody  who  had  ever  known  it  could 
live  without  this  place.  Miss  Mary  would 
find  them.  She  would  make  everything 
right.  The  mere  thought  of  Mistress  Mary 
brought  a  strange  peace  into  poor  Lisa's 
overwrought,  distraught  mind. 

She  opened  the  closet  door.  It  was  as 
dainty  and  neat  as  Mistress  Mary  herself, 
and  the  mere  sight  of  it  bred  order  in  Lisa's 
thoughts.  On  the  top  of  a  pile  of  envelopes 
lay  the  sewing-picture  that  Atlantic  had 
spoiled  that  day.  It  had  been  a  black 
morning,  and  the  bit  of  cardboard  was  torn 
and  soiled  and  bent.  Lisa  looked  at  it  with 
a  maternal  and  a  prophetic  eye.  She  could 


MARM  LISA'S    QUEST.  105 

see  the  firm  line  of  Rhoda's  lip  as  she  bore 
down  upon  the  destructive  urchin.  She 
could  almost  hear  the  bright  challenging 
tone  as  Rhoda  would  say:  "Now,  Atlantic, 
let  us  see  what  we  can  do!  Cut  off  the 
chewed  edges  with  these  scissors,  paste  these 
thin  pieces  of  paper  over  the  torn  places, 
and  rub  the  card  with  this  crust  of  bread. 
A  new  one?  Certainly  not,  my  young 
friend!" 

Lisa  took  the  poor  little  object  in  her 
hand,  and  seeing  Mistress  Mary's  white 
apron,  pressed  her  cheek  against  it  in  a 
transport  of  tenderness  and  hung  it  over 
her  arm.  Just  then  she  caught  sight  of  the 
clay  bird's-nest  that  Pacific  had  modeled, 
—  such  a  lovely  bird's-nest  that  it  had  been 
kept  for  the  cabinet.  She  carried  her  trea 
sures  over  to  the  old-fashioned  lounge  where 
the  babies  took  their  occasional  nap,  put 
them  carefully  in  a  small  red  chair  close 
beside  it,  and  then,  stretching  her  weary 
length  on  the  cushions,  she  kissed  the 
smooth  folds  of  the  apron  and  clasped  it  in 
her  arms. 

Mistress  Mary  would  come  soon.  She 
would  come  in  her  cloud  of  white,  and  her 
steel  fillet  would  gleam  and  shine  when  the 


106  MARM  LISA. 

sunshine  fell  upon  it,  and  make  star-rays 
and  moonbeams  and  lightning-flashes;  and 
the  tiny  points  would  twinkle  and  wink  and 
laugh  and  blink  whenever  she  turned  her 
head.  She  would  smile,  and  everything 
would  suddenly  be  clear;  she  would  speak, 
and  the  weary  buzzing  of  windmills  in  the 
brain  would  be  hushed.  Under  her  touch 
the  darkness  and  heaviness  would  vanish, 
and  there  would  be  no  more  night  there,  — 
no  more  night. 

As  these  healing  visions  stole  upon  Marm 
Lisa,  the  torture  and  the  anguish,  the  long 
hours  of  bewilderment,  faded  little  by  little, 
little  by  little,  till  at  length  a  blessed  sleep 
crept  over  her  eyelids,  blotting  into  a  merci 
ful  nothingness  the  terror  and  the  misery 
of  the  day. 


X. 

THE   TWINS   JOIN  THE   CELESTIALS. 

MEANWHILE,  Atlantic  and  Pacific  had 
been  enjoying  themselves  even  unto  the 
verge  of  delirium.  In  the  course  of  their 
wanderings  they  had  come  upon  a  China 
man  bearing  aloft  a  huge  red  silken  banner 
crowned  by  a  badger's  tail.  Everything 
young  that  had  two  legs  was  following  him, 
and  they  joined  the  noble  army  of  followers. 
As  they  went  on,  other  Chinamen  with 
other  banners  came  from  the  side-alleys, 
and  all  at  once  the  small  procession  thus 
formed  turned  a  corner  and  came  upon  the 
parent  body,  a  sight  that  fairly  stunned 
them  by  its  Oriental  magnificence.  It  was 
the  four  thousandth  anniversary  of  the  birth 
of  Yeong  Wo,  had  the  children  realized  it 
(and  that  may  have  been  the  reason  that 
they  awoke  in  a  fever  of  excitement),  — 
Yeong  Wo,  statesman,  philanthropist,  philo 
sopher,  and  poet;  and  the  great  day  had 
been  chosen  to  dedicate  the  new  temple  and 


108  MARM  LISA. 

install  in  it  a  new  joss,   and  to  exhibit  a 
monster    dragon  just  arrived  from  China. 
The  joss  had  been  sitting  in  solemn  state  in 
his   sanctum  sanctorum  for  a  week,   while 
the  priests  appeased  him  hourly  with  plen 
teous  libations  of  rice  brandy,  sacrifices  of 
snow-white  pigeons,   and  offerings  of  var 
nished  pork.     Clouds  of  incense  had  regaled 
his  expansive  mahogany  nostrils,  while  his 
ears  of  ivory  inlaid  with   gold  and  bronze 
had  been  stimulated  with  the  ceaseless  clash 
ing  of  gongs  and  wailings  of  Chinese  fiddles. 
Such  homage  and  such  worship  would  have 
touched  a  heart  of  stone,  and  that  of  the 
joss  was  penetrable  sandalwood;  so  as  the 
days  of  preparation  wore  away,  the  smile 
on  the  teakwood  lips  of  the  idol  certainly 
became  more  propitious.     This  was  greatly 
to  the   satisfaction   of  the  augurs  and  the 
high  priest;  for  a  mighty  joss  is  not  always 
in   a  sunny  humor   on   feast-days,   and   to 
parade  a  sulky  god  through  the  streets  is  a 
very  depressing  ceremony,  foretelling  to  the 
initiated  a  season  of  dire   misfortune.     So 
his  godship  smiled  and  shook  his  plume  of 
peacock    feathers    benignantly    on    Yeong 
Wo's  birthday,  and  therefore  the  pageant 
in  which  Atlantic  and  Pacific  bore  a  part 


TWINS  JOIN   THE   CELESTIALS.        109 

was  more  gorgeous  than  anything  that  ever 
took  place  out  of  the  Flowery  Kingdom 
itself. 

Fortune  smiled  upon  the  naughty  crea 
tures  at  the  very  outset,  for  Pacific  picked 
up  a  stick  of  candy  in  the  street,  and  gave 
half  of  it  to  a  pretty  Chinese  maiden  whose 
name  in  English  would  have  been  Spring 
Blossom,  and  who  looked,  in  any  language, 
like  a  tropical  flower,  in  her  gown  of  blue- 
and-gold-embroidered  satin  and  the  sheaf  of 
tiny  fans  in  her  glossy  black  hair.  Spring 
Blossom  accepted  the  gift  with  enthusiasm, 
since  a  sweet  tooth  is  not  a  matter  of  nation 
ality,  and  ran  immediately  to  tell  her  mo 
ther,  a  childish  instinct  also  of  universal 
distribution.  She  climbed,  as  nimbly  as 
her  queer  little  shoes  would  permit,  a  flight 
of  narrow  steps  leading  to  a  balcony ;  while 
the  twins  followed  close  at  her  heels,  and 
wedged  their  way  through  a  forest  of  Mon 
golian  legs  till  they  reached  the  front,  where 
they  peeped  through  the  spaces  of  the  rail 
ings  with  Spring  Blossom,  Fairy  Foot, 
Dewy  Eose,  and  other  Celestial  babies, 
quite  overlooked  in  the  crowd  and  excite 
ment  and  jollity.  Such  a  very  riot  of  con 
fusion  there  was,  it  seemed  as  if  Confucius 


110  MARM  LISA. 

might  have  originally  spelled  his  name  with 
an  s  in  the  middle;  for  every  window  was 
black  with  pigtailed  highbinders,  cobblers, 
pork  butchers,  and  pawnbrokers.  The  nar 
row  streets  and  alleys  became  one  seething 
mass  of  Asiatic  humanity,  while  the  painted 
belles  came  out  on  their  balconies  like  but 
terflies,  sitting  among  a  wealth  of  gaudy 
paper  flowers  that  looked  pale  in  compari 
son  with  the  daubs  of  vermilion  on  their 
cheeks  and  the  rainbow  colors  of  their  silken 
tunics. 

At  last  the  pageant  had  gathered  itself 
together,  and  came  into  full  view  in  all  its 
magnificence.  There  were  pagodas  in  teak- 
wood  inlaid  with  gold  and  resting  on  ebony 
poles,  and  behind  them,  on  a  very  tame 
Rosinante  decked  with  leopard  skins  and 
gold  bullion  fringes,  a  Chinese  maiden 
dressed  to  represent  a  queen  of  Celestial 
mythology.  Then  came  more  pagodas,  and 
companies  of  standard-bearers  in  lavender 
tunics,  red  sashes,  green  and  orange  leg 
gings  and  slippers;  more  and  more  splendid 
banners,  painted  with  dragons  sprawling  in 
distressed  attitudes ;  litters  containing  minor 
gods  and  the  paraphernalia  they  were  accus 
tomed  to  need  on  a  journey  like  this;  more 


TWINS  JOIN   THE    CELESTIALS.       Ill 

litters  bearing  Chinese  orchestras,  gongs 
going  at  full  blast,  fiddles  squeaking,  drums 
rumbling,  trumpets  shrieking,  cymbals 
clashing,  —  just  the  sort  of  Babel  that  the 
twins  adored. 

And  now  came  the  chariot  and  throne  of 
the  great  joss  himself,  and  just  behind  him 
a  riderless  bay  horse,  intended  for  his  im 
perial  convenience  should  he  tire  of  being- 
swayed  about  on  the  shoulders  of  his  twelve 
bearers,  and  elect  to  change  his  method  of 
conveyance.  Behind  this  honored  steed 
came  a  mammoth  rock-cod  in  a  pagoda  of 
his  own,  and  then,  heralded  by  a  fusillade 
of  fire -crackers,  the  new  dragon  itself, 
stretching  and  wriggling  its  monster  length 
through  one  entire  block.  A  swarm  of 
men  cleared  the  way  for  it,  gesticulating 
like  madmen  in  their  zeal  to  get  swimming- 
room  for  the  sacred  monster.  Never  before 
in  her  brief  existence  had  Pacific  Simonson 
been  afraid  of  anything,  but  if  she  had  been 
in  the  street,  and  had  so  much  as  caught 
the  wink  of  the  dragon's  eye  or  a  wave  of 
its  consecrated  fin,  she  would  have  dropped 
senseless  to  the  earth ;  as  it  was,  she  turned 
her  back  to  the  procession,  and,  embracing 
with  terror-stricken  fervor  the  legs  of  the 


112  HARM  LISA. 

Chinaman  standing  behind  her,  made  up 
her  mind  to  be  a  better  girl  in  the  future. 
The  monster  was  borne  by  seventy-four 
coolies  who  furnished  legs  for  each  of  the 
seventy-four  joints  of  its  body,  while  an 
other  concealed  in  its  head  tossed  it  wildly 
about.  Little  pigtailed  boys  shrieked  as 
they  looked  at  its  gaping  mouth  that  would 
have  shamed  a  man-eating  shark,  at  the 
huge  locomotive  headlights  that  served  for 
its  various  sets  of  eyes,  at  the  horns  made 
of  barber  poles,  and  the  moustache  of 
twisted  hogshead  hoops.  Behind  this  bale 
ful  creature,  came  other  smaller  ones  and 
more  flags,  and  litters  with  sacrificial  offer 
ings,  and  more  musicians,  till  all  disap 
peared  in  the  distance,  and  the  crowd  surged 
in  the  direction  of  the  temple. 

There  was  no  such  good  fortune  for  the 
twins  as  an  entrance  into  this  holy  of  holies, 
for  it  held  comparatively  few  beside  the 
dignitaries,  aristocrats,  and  wealthy  mer 
chants  of  the  colony;  but  there  was  still 
ample  material  for  entertainment,  and  they 
paid  no  heed  to  the  going  down  of  the  sun. 
Why  should  they,  indeed,  when  there  were 
fascinating  opium  dens  standing  hospitably 
open,  where  they  could  have  the  excitement 


TWINS   JOIN   THE    CELESTIALS.        113 

of  entrance  even  if  it  were  followed  by  im 
mediate  ejectment?  As  it  grew  darker,  the 
scene  grew  more  weird  and  fairy -like,  for 
the  scarlet,  orange,  and  blue  lanterns  began 
to  gleam  one  by  one  in  the  narrow  door 
ways,  and  from  the  shadowy  corners  of  the 
rooms  behind  them.  In  every  shop  were 
tables  laden  with  Chinese  delicacies,  —  fish, 
flesh,  fowl,  tea,  rice,  whiskey,  lichee  nuts, 
preserved  limes,  ginger,  and  other  sweet 
meats;  all  of  which,  when  not  proffered, 
could  be  easily  purloined,  for  there  was  no 
spirit  of  parsimony  or  hostility  afloat  in  the 
air.  In  cubby -holes  back  of  the  counters, 
behind  the  stoves,  wherever  they  could  find 
room  for  a  table,  groups  of  moon-eyed  men 
began  to  congregate  for  their  nightly  game 
of  fan-tan,  some  of  the  players  and  onlook 
ers  smoking,  while  others  chewed  lengths 
of  peeled  sugar-cane. 

In  the  midst  of  festivities  like  these  the 
twins  would  have  gone  on  from  bliss  to  bliss 
without  consciousness  of  time  or  place,  had 
not  hunger  suddenly  descended  upon  them 
and  sleep  begun  to  tug  at  their  eyelids, 
changing  in  a  trice  their  joy  into  sorrow, 
and  their  mirth  into  mourning.  Not  that 
they  were  troubled  with  any  doubts,  fears, 


MARM  LISA. 

or  perplexities.  True,  they  had  wandered 
away  from  Eden  Place,  and  had  not  the 
slightest  idea  of  their  whereabouts.  If  they 
had  been  a  couple  of  babes  in  a  wood,  or 
any  two  respectable  lost  children  of  romance, 
memories  of  lullabies  and  prayers  at  mo 
ther's  knee  would  have  precipitated  them 
at  this  juncture  into  floods  of  tears;  but 
home  to  them  was  simply  supper  and  bed. 
The  situation  did  not  seem  complex  to  their 
minds ;  the  only  plan  was  of  course  to  howl, 
and  to  do  it  thoroughly,  —  stand  in  a  corner 
of  the  market-place,  and  howl  in  such  a 
manner  that  there  could  be  no  mistake  as 
to  the  significance  of  the  proceeding ;  when 
the  crowd  collected,  —  for  naturally  a  crowd 
would  collect,  —  simply  demand  supper  and 
bed,  no  matter  what  supper  nor  which  bed; 
eat  the  first,  lie  down  in  the  second,  and 
there  you  are !  If  the  twins  had  been  older 
and  more  experienced,  they  would  have 
known  that  people  occasionally  do  demand 
the  necessities  of  life  without  receiving 
them ;  but  in  that  case  they  would  also  have 
known  that  such  a  misfortune  would  never 
fall  upon  a  couple  of  lost  children  who  con 
fide  their  woes  to  the  public.  There  was 
no  preconcerted  plan  between  them,  no  sys- 


TWINS  JOIN  THE   CELESTIALS.       115 

tern.  They  acted  without  invention,  pre 
monition,  or  reflection.  It  was  their  habit 
to  scream,  while  holding  the  breath  as  long 
as  possible,  whenever  the  universe  was 
unfriendly,  and  particularly  when  Nature 
asserted  herself  in  any  way ;  it  was  a  curi 
ous  fact  that  they  resented  the  intervention 
of  Nature  and  Providence  with  just  as  much 
energy  as  they  did  the  discipline  of  their 
care-takers.  They  screamed  now,  the  mo 
ment  that  the  entertainment  palled  and  they 
could  not  keep  their  eyes  open  without 
effort,  and  never  had  they  been  more  suc 
cessful  in  holding  their  breath  and  growing- 
black  in  the  face;  indeed,  Pacific,  in  the 
midst  of  her  performance,  said  to  Atlantic, 
"Yours  is  purple,  how  is  mine?  " 

A  crowd  did  gather,  inevitably,  for  the 
twins'  lungs  were  capable  of  a  body  of  tone 
mo.re  piercing  than  that  of  a  Chinese  orches 
tra,  and  the  wonder  is  that  poor  Lisa  did 
not  hear  them  as  she  sat  shivering  on  the 
curbstone,  miles  away;  for  it  was  her  name 
with  which  they  conjured. 

The  populace  amused  itself  for  a  short 
space  of  time,  watching  the  fine  but  mis 
directed  zeal  of  the  performance,  and  sup 
posing  that  the  parents  of  the  chanthig 
cherubs  were  within  easy  reach.  It  be- 


116  HARM  LISA. 

came  unpleasant  after  a  while,  however,  and 
a  policeman,  inquiring  into  the  matter, 
marched  the  two  dirty,  weary  little  protest- 
ants  off  to  a  station  near  by,  —  a  march 
nearly  as  difficult  and  bloody  as  Sherman's 
memorable  "march  to  the  sea;"  for  the 
children  associated  nothing  so  pleasant  as 
supper  and  bed  with  a  blue-coated,  brass- 
buttoned  person,  and  resisted  his  well-meant 
advances  with  might  and  main,  and  tooth 
and  nail. 

The  policeman  was  at  last  obliged  to  con 
fine  himself  to  Atlantic,  and  called  a  bro- 
ther-in-arms  to  take  charge  of  Pacific.  He 
was  a  man  who  had  achieved  distinction  in 
putting  down  railroad  riots,  so  he  was  well 
calculated  for  the  task,  although  he  was 
somewhat  embarrassed  by  the  laughter  of 
the  bystanders  when  his  comrade  called  out 
to  him,  "Take  your  club,  Mike,  but  don't 
use  firearms  unless  your  life  's  in  danger!  " 

The  station  reached,  the  usual  examina 
tion  took  place.  Atlantic  never  could  tell 
the  name  of  the  street  in  which  he  lived, 
nor  the  number  of  the  house.  Pacific  could, 
perhaps,  but  would  not;  and  it  must  be 
said,  in  apology  for  her  abnormal  defiance, 
that  her  mental  operations  were  somewhat 
confused,  owing  to  copious  indulgence  in 


TWINS  JOIN   THE    CELESTIALS.         117 

strong  tea,  ginger,  sugar-cane,  and  dried 
fish.  She  had  not  been  wisely  approached 
in  the  first  place,  and  she  was  in  her  sulki 
est  and  most  combative  humor;  in  fact, 
when  too  urgently  pressed  for  information 
as  to  her  age,  ancestry,  and  abiding-place, 
she  told  the  worthy  police  officer  to  go  to 
a  locality  for  which  he  felt  utterly  unsuited, 
after  a  life  spent  in  the  exaltation  of  virtue 
and  the  suppression  of  vice.  (The  vocabu 
lary  of  the  twins  was  somewhat  poverty- 
stricken  in  respect  to  the  polite  phrases  of 
society,  but  in  profanity  it  would  have  been 
rich  for  a  parrot  or  a  pirate.)  The  waifs 
were  presently  given  into  the  care  of  the 
police  matron,  and  her  advice,  sought  later, 
was  to  the  effect  that  the  children  had  bet 
ter  be  fed  and  put  to  bed,  and  as  little 
trouble  expended  upon  them  as  was  consist 
ent  with  a  Christian  city  government. 

"It  is  possible  their  parents  may  call  for 
them  in  the  morning,"  she  said  acidly,  "but 
I  think  it  is  more  than  likely  that  they  have 
been  deserted.  I  know  if  they  belonged  to 
me  they  'd  be  lost  forever  before  I  tried  to 
find  them!"  and  she  rubbed  a  black-and- 
blue  spot  on  her  person,  which,  if  exposed, 
would  have  betrayed  the  shape,  size,  and 
general  ground-plan  of  Pacific's  boot. 


XI. 

RHODA   FREES   HER   MIND. 

MORNING  dawned,  and  Mistress  Mary 
and  Rhoda  went  up  the  flight  of  broad  steps 
rather  earlier-  than  usual,  —  so  early  that 
the  janitress,  who  had  been  awake  half  the 
night  with  an  ailing  baby,  was  just  going  in 
to  dust  the  rooms. 

It  was  she  who  first  caught  sight  of  the 
old  sofa  and  its  occupant,  and  her  exclama 
tion  drew  Mary  and  Ehoda  to  the  spot. 
There  lay  poor  Marm  Lisa  in  the  dead  sleep 
of  exhaustion,  her  dress  torn  and  wrinkled, 
her  shoes  travel-stained,  her  hair  tangled 
and  matted.  Their  first  idea  was  that  the 
dreaded  foe  might  have  descended  upon 
her,  and  that  she  had  had  some  terrible  seiz 
ure  with  no  one  near  to  aid  and  relieve  her. 
But  the  longer  they  looked,  the  less  they 
feared  this ;  her  face,  though  white  and  tear- 
stained,  was  tranquil,  her  lips  only  slightly 
pale,  and  her  breathing  calm  and  steady. 
Mary  finally  noted  the  pathetic  grouping  of 


RHODA  FREES  HER  MIND.      119 

little  objects  in  the  red  chair,  and,  touched 
by  this,  began  to  apprehend  the  significance 
of  her  own  white  apron  close  clasped  in  the 
child's  loyal  arms,  and  fell  a-weeping  softly 
on  Khoda's  shoulder.  "She  needed  me, 
Rhoda,"  she  said.  "I  do  not  know  for 
what,  but  I  am  sure  she  needed  me." 

"I  see  it  all,"  said  Rhoda,  administering 
soft  strokes  of  consolation :  "  it  is  something 
to  do  with  those  little  beasts;  yes,  I  will 
call  them  beasts,  and  if  you  don't  let  me, 
I  '11  call  them  brutes.  They  lost  themselves 
yesterday,  of  course,  and  dear  old  Lisa 
searched  for  them  all  the  afternoon  and  half 
the  night,  for  aught  we  know,  and  then 
came  here  to  be  comforted,  I  suppose,  — 
the  blessed  thing!  " 

"Hush!  don't  touch  her,"  Mary  whis 
pered,  as  Rhoda  went  impetuously  down  on 
her  knees  by  the  sofa ;  "  and  we  must  not 
talk  in  this  room,  for  fear  of  waking  her. 
Suppose  you  go  at  once  to  Mrs.  Grubb's, 
dear,  and  whatever  you  learn  about  the 
twins  there,  I  shall  meanwhile  call  a  car 
riage  and  take  Lisa  home  to  my  own  bed. 
The  janitress  can  send  Edith  to  me  as  soon 
as  she  comes,  and  I  will  leave  her  with 
Lisa  while  I  run  back  here  to  consult  with 


120  MARM  LISA. 

you  and  Helen.  I  shall  telegraph  for  Dr. 
Thome,  also,  to  be  sure  that  this  sleep  is  as 
natural  and  healing  a  thing  as  it  appears  to 
be." 

Mrs.  Grubb  was  surprised,  even  amused, 
at  Ehoda's  exciting  piece  of  news,  but  she 
was  perfectly  tranquil. 

"Well,  don't  they  beat  all!"  she  ex 
claimed,  leaning  against  the  door-frame 
and  taking  her  side  hair  out  of  waving-pins 
as  she  talked.  "No,  I  haven't  seen  them 
since  noon  yesterday.  I  was  out  to  a  picnic 
supper  at  the  Army  Headquarters  at  night, 
and  didn't  get  home  till  later  than  usual, 
so  I  did  n't  go  up  to  their  room.  I  thought 
they  were  in  bed ;  they  always  have  been  in 
bed  when  it  was  bedtime,  ever  since  they 
were  born."  Here  she  removed  the  last 
pin,  and  put  it  with  the  others  in  the  bosom 
of  her  dress  for  safe-keeping.  "This  morn 
ing,  when  they  didn't  turn  up,  I  thought 
some  of  you  girls  had  taken  a  fancy  to  keep 
them  over  night;  I  didn't  worry,  supposing 
that  Lisa  was  with  them." 

"Nobody  on  earth  could  take  a  fancy  to 
the  twins  or  keep  them  an  hour  longer  than 
necessary,  and  you  know  it,  Mrs.  Grubb," 
said  Rhoda,  who  seldom  minced  matters; 


RHODA    FREES   HER  MIND.  121 

"and  in  case  no  one  should  ever  have  the 
bad  manners  to  tell  you  the  whole  truth,  I 
want  to  say  here  and  now  that  you  neglect 
everything  good  and  sensible  and  practical, 
—  all  the  plain  simple  duties  that  stare  you 
directly  in  the  face,  —  and  waste  yourself 
on  matters  that  are  of  no  earthly  use  to  any 
body.  Those  children  would  have  been 
missed  last  night  if  you  had  one  drop  of 
mother's  blood  in  your  veins!  You  have 
three  helpless  children  under  what  you  are 
pleased  to  call  your  care  "  (and  here  Rhoda's 
lip  curled  so  scornfully  that  Mrs.  Grubb 
was  tempted  to  stab  her  with  a  curling-pin), 
"and  you  went  to  sleep  without  knowing  to 
a  certainty  whether  they  had  had  supper  or 
bed!  I  don't  believe  you  are  a  woman  at 
all,  —  you  are  just  a  vague  abstraction ;  and 
the  only  things  you  've  ever  borne  or  nursed 
or  brooded  in  your  life  have  been  your  mis 
erable  bloodless  little  clubs  and  bands  and 
unions! " 

Rhoda's  eyes  flashed  summer  lightning, 
her  nostrils  quivered,  her  cheeks  flamed 
scarlet,  and  Mrs.  Grubb  sat  down  suddenly 
and  heavily  on  the  front  stairs  and  gasped 
for  breath.  According  to  her  own  belief, 
her  whole  life  had  been  passed  in  a  search 


122  HARM  LISA. 

for  truth,  but  it  is  safe  to  say  she  had  never 
before  met  it  in  so  uncompromising  and  dis 
agreeable  a  shape. 

"Perhaps  when  you  are  quite  through 
with  your  billingsgate,"  she  finally  said, 
"you  will  take  yourself  off  my  steps  before 
you  are  ejected.  You !  to  presume  to  criti 
cise  me !  You,  that  are  so  low  in  the  scale 
of  being,  you  can  no  more  understand  my 
feelings  and  motives  than  a  jellyfish  can 
comprehend  a  star !  Go  back  and  tell  Miss 
Mary,"  she  went  on  majestically,  as  she 
gained  confidence  and  breath,  "that  it  is 
her  duty  and  business  to  find  the  children, 
since  they  were  last  seen  with  her,  and  un 
less  she  proves  more  trustworthy  they  will 
not  be  allowed  to  return  to  her.  Tell  her, 
too,  that  when  she  wishes  to  communicate 
with  me,  she  must  choose  some  other  mes 
senger  besides  you,  you  impudent,  grovel 
ing  little  earthworm !  Get  out  of  my  sight, 
or  you  will  unfit  me  for  my  classes!  " 

Mrs.  Grubb  was  fairly  superb  as  she 
launched  these  thunderbolts  of  invective; 
the  staircase  her  rostrum,  her  left  hand 
poised  impressively  on  the  baluster,  and  the 
three  snaky  strands  of  brown  hair  that  had 
writhed  out  of  the  wa.ving-pins  hissing  Me 
dusa-wise  on  each  side  of  her  head. 


RHODA   FREES  HER   MIND.  123 

Rhoda  was  considerably  taken  aback  by 
the  sudden  and  violent  slamming  of  the 
door  of  number  one,  Eden  Place,  and  she 
felt  an  unwelcome  misgiving  as  to  her  wis 
dom  in  bringing  Mrs.  Grubb  face  to  face 
with  truth.  Her  rage  had  somewhat  sub 
sided  by  the  time  she  reached  Mistress 
Mary's  side,  for  she  had  stopped  on  the 
way  to  ask  a  policeman  to  telephone  the 
various  stations  for  news  of  the  lost  chil 
dren,  and  report  at  once  to  her.  "There 
is  one  good  thing,"  she  thought:  "wherever 
they  may  be,  their  light  cannot  be  hid  any 
more  than  that  of  a  city  that  is  set  on  a  hill. 
There  will  be  plenty  of  traces  of  their  jour 
ney,  for  once  seen  they  are  never  forgotten. 
Nobody  but  a  hero  would  think  of  kidnap 
ping  them,  and  nobody  but  an  idiot  would 
expect  a  ransom  for  them !  " 

"I  hope  you  did  n't  upbraid  Mrs.  Grubb," 
said  Mary,  divining  from  Rhoda 's  clouded 
brow  that  her  interview  had  not  been  a 
pleasant  one.  "You  know  our  only  peace 
ful  way  of  rescuing  Lisa  from  her  hold  is 
to  make  a  friend  of  her,  and  convert  her  to 
our  way  of  thinking.  Was  she  much  dis 
turbed  about  the  children?  " 

"Disturbed!  "    sniffed    Rhoda,    disdain- 


124  MARM  LISA. 

fully.  "Imagine  Mrs.  Grubb  disturbed 
about  anything  so  trivial  as  a  lost  child !  If 
it  had  been  a  lost  amendment,  she  might 

7  O 

have  been  ruffled!  " 

"What  is  she  doing  about  it,  and  in 
what  direction  is  she  searching?" 

"She  is  doing  nothing,  and  she  will  do 
nothing ;  she  has  gone  to  a  Theosophy  lec 
ture,  and  we  are  to  find  the  twins ;  and  she 
says  it 's  your  fault,  anyway,  and  unless  you 
prove  more  trustworthy  the  seraphs  will  be 
removed  from  your  care;  and  you  are  not 
to  send  me  again  as  a  messenger,  if  you 
please,  because  I  am  an  impudent,  grovel 
ing  little  earth-worm! " 

"Rhoda!" 

"Yes'm!" 

"Did  she  call  you  that?" 

"Yes  'm,  and  a  jellyfish  besides;  in  fact, 
she  dragged  me  through  the  entire  animal 
kingdom ;  but  she  is  a  stellar  being,  —  she 
said  so." 

"What  did  you  say  to  her  to  provoke 
that,  Ehoda?  She  is  thoroughly  illogical 
and  perverse,  but  she  is  very  amiable." 

"Yes,  when  you  don't  interfere  with  her. 
You  should  catch  her  with  her  hair  in  wav- 
ing-pins,  just  after  she  has  imbibed  apple 


RHODA  FREES  HER  MIND.      125 

sauce!  Oh,  I  can't  remember  exactly  what 
I  said,  for  I  confess  I  was  a  trifle  heated, 
and  at  the  moment  I  thought  only  of  freeing 
my  mind.  Let  me  see :  I  told  her  she  neg 
lected  all  the  practical  duties  that  stared 
her  directly  in  the  face,  and  squandered 
herself  on  useless  fads  and  vagaries,  — 
that 's  about  all.  No-o,  now  that  I  come 
to  think  of  it,  I  did  say  that  the  children 
would  have  been  missed  and  found  last 
night,  if  she  had  had  a  drop  of  mother's 
blood  in  her  veins. 

"That 's  terse  and  strong — and  tactful," 
said  Mary ;  "  anything  more  ?  " 

"No,  I  don't  think  so.  Oh  yes!  now 
that  I  reflect,  I  said  I  didn't  believe  she 
was  a  woman  at  all.  That  seemed  to  enrage 
her  beyond  anything,  somehow;  and  when 
I  explained  it,  and  tried  to  modify  it  by 
saying  I  meant  that  she  had  never  borne  or 
loved  or  brooded  anything  in  her  life  but 
her  nasty  little  clubs,  she  was  white  with 
anger,  and  told  me  I  was  too  low  in  the 
scale  of  being  to  understand  her.  Good 
gracious!  I  wish  she  understood  herself 
half  as  well  as  I  understand  her!  " 

Mary  gave  a  hysterical  laugh.  "I  can't 
pretend  you  did  n't  speak  the  truth,  Khoda, 


126  MARM  LISA. 

but  I  am  sadly  afraid  it  was  ill  advised  to 
wound  Mrs.  Grubb's  vanity.  Do  you  feel 
a  good  deal  better?" 

"No,"  confessed  Rhoda  penitently.  "I 
did  for  fifteen  minutes,  —  yes,  nearly  half 
an  hour;  but  now  I  feel  worse  than  ever." 

"That  is  one  of  the  commonest  symptoms 
of  freeing  one's  mind,"  observed  Mary 
quietly. 

It  was  scarcely  an  hour  later  when  Atlan 
tic  and  Pacific  were  brought  in  by  an  officer, 
very  dirty  and  disheveled,  but  gay  and  irre 
sponsible  as  larks,  nonchalant,  amiable,  and 
unrepentant.  As  Rhoda  had  prophesied, 
there  had  been  no  difficulty  in  rinding  them ; 
and  as  everybody  had  prophesied,  once 
found  there  had  not  been  a  second's  delay 
in  delivery.  Moved  by  fiery  hatred  of  the 
police  matron,  who  had  illustrated  justice 
more  than  mercy,  and  illustrated  it  with  the 
back  of  a  hair-brush  on  their  reversed  per 
sons;  lured  also  by  two  popcorn  balls,  a 
jumping-jack,  and  a  tin  horse,  they  accepted 
the  municipal  escort  with  alacrity;  and  no 
thing  was  ever  jauntier  than  the  manner  in 
which  Pacific,  all  smiles  and  molasses,  held 
up  her  sticky  lips  for  an  expected  salute,  - 
an  unusual  offer  which  was  respectfully  de 
clined  as  a  matter  of  discipline. 


RHODA  FREES  HER  MIND.     127 

Mary  longed  for  Rhoda's  young  minister 
in  the  next  half -hour,  which  she  devoted  to 
private  spiritual  instruction.  Psychology 
proved  wholly  unequal  to  the  task  of  fathom 
ing  the  twins,  and  she  fancied  that  theology 
might  have  been  more  helpful.  Their  idea 
seemed  to  be  —  if  the  rudimentary  thing  she 
unearthed  from  their  consciousness  could  be 
called  an  idea  —  that  they  would  not  mind 
repenting  if  they  could  see  anything  of 
which  to  repent.  Of  sin,  as  sin,  they  had 
no  apparent  knowledge,  either  by  sight,  by 
hearsay,  or  by  actual  acquaintance.  They 
sat  stolidly  in  their  little  chairs,  eyes  roving 
to  the  windows,  the  blackboard,  the  pic 
tures;  they  clubbed  together  and  fished  a 
pin  from  a  crack  in  the  floor  during  one  of 
Mary's  most  thrilling  appeals;  finally,  they 
appeared  so  bored  by  the  whole  proceeding 
that  she  felt  a  certain  sense  of  embarrass 
ment  in  the  midst  of  her  despair.  She  took 
them  home  herself  at  noon,  apologized  to 
the  injured  Mrs.  Grubb  for  Rhoda's  unfor 
tunate  remarks,  and  told  that  lady,  gently 
but  firmly,  that  Lisa  could  not  be  moved 
until  she  was  decidedly  better. 

"She  was  wandering  about  the  streets 
searching  for  the  twins  from  noon  till  long 


128  HARM  LISA. 

after  dark,  Mrs.  Grubb,  —  there  can  be  no 
doubt  of  it;  and  she  bears  unmistakable 
signs  of  having  suffered  deeply.  I  have 
called  in  a  physician,  and  we  must  all  abide 
by  his  advice." 

"That's  well  enough  for  the  present," 
agreed  Mrs.  Grubb  reluctantly,  "but  I  can 
not  continue  to  have  my  studies  broken  in 
upon  by  these  excitements.  I  really  cannot. 
I  thought  I  had  made  an  arrangement  with 
Madame  Goldmarker  to  relieve  me,  but 
she  has  just  served  me  a  most  unladylike 
and-  deceitful  trick,  and  the  outcome  of  it 
will  be  that  I  shall  have  to  send  Lisa  to  the 
asylum.  I  can  get  her  examined  by  the 
commissioners  some  time  before  Christmas, 
and  if  they  decide  she  's  imbecile  they  '11 
take  her  off  my  hands.  I  did  n't  want  to 
part  with  her  till  the  twins  got  older,  but 
I  've  just  found  a  possible  home  for  them  if 
I  can  endure  their  actions  until  New  Year's. 
Our  Army  of  Present  Perfection  is  n't  pro 
gressing  as  it  ought  to,  and  it 's  going  to 
found  a  colony  down  in  San  Diego  County, 
and  advertise  for  children  to  bring  up  in 
the  faith.  A  certain  number  of  men  and 
women  have  agreed  to  go  and  start  the 
thing,  and  I  'm  sure  my  sister,  if  she  was 


RHODA   FREES   HER   MIND.  129 

alive,  would  be  glad  to  donate  her  children 
to  such  a  splendid  enterprise.     If  the  com 
missioners  won't  take  Lisa,   she  can  go  to 
Soul  Haven,  too,  — that 's  the  name  of  the 
place . — but  no,  of  course  they  would  n't  want 
any  but  bright  children,  that  would  grow 
up  and  spread  the  light."     (Mary  smiled  at 
the  thought  of   the  twins  engaged  in   the 
occupation   of    spreading   light.)     "I  shall 
not  join  the  community  myself,   though  I 
believe  it 's  a  good  thing;  but  a  very  differ 
ent  future  is  unveiling  itself   before  me" 
(her  tone  was  full  of  mystery  here),   "and 
some  time,  if  I  can  ever  pursue  my  inves 
tigations  in   peace,  you  will  knock  at  this 
door   and  I    shall   have   vanished!     But   I 
shall  know  of  your  visit,  and  the  very  sound 
of  your  footfall  will  reach  my  ear,  even  if 
I  am  inhabiting  some  remote  mountain  fast 
ness!" 

When  Lisa  awoke  that  night,  she  heard 
the  crackling  of  a  wood  fire  on  the  hearth ; 
she  felt  the  touch  of  soft  linen  under  her 
aching  body,  and  the  pressure  of  something 
cool  and  fragrant  on  her  forehead.  Her 
right  hand,  feebly  groping  the  white  coun 
terpane,  felt  a  flower  in  its  grasp.  Opening 


130  HARM  LISA. 

her  eyes,  she  saw  the  firelight  dancing  on 
tinted  walls,  and  an  angel  of  deliverance 
sitting  by  her  bedside,  —  a  dear  familiar 
woman  angel,  whose  fair  crowned  head  rose 
from  a  cloud  of  white,  and  whose  sweet 
downward  gaze  held  all  of  benignant  mother 
hood  that  God  could  put  into  woman's  eyes. 
Marm  Lisa  looked  up  dumbly  and  won- 
deringly  at  first,  but  the  mind  stirred, 
thought  flowed  in  upon  it,  a  wave  of  pain 
broke  over  her  heart,  and  she  remembered 
all;  for  remembrance,  alas,  is  the  price  of 
reason. 

"Lost!  my  twinnies,  all  lost  and  gone!" 
she  whispered  brokenly,  with  long,  shudder 
ing  sobs  between  the  words.  "I  look  — 
look  —  look ;  never,  never  find  I  " 

"No,  no,  dear,"  Mary  answered,  stroking 
the  lines  from  her  forehead,  "not  lost  any 
more ;  found,  Lisa,  —  do  you  understand  ? 
They  are  found,  they  are  safe  and  well,  and 
nobody  blames  you ;  and  you  are  safe,  too, 
your  new  self,  your  best  self  unharmed, 
thank  God;  so  go  to  sleep,  little  sister,  and 
dream  happy  dreams!  " 

Glad  tears  rushed  from  the  poor  child's 
eyes,  tears  of  conscious  happiness,  and  the 
burden  rolled  away  from  her  heart  now,  as 


RHODA  FREES  HER  MIND.     131 

yesterday's  whirring  shuttles  in  her  brain 
had  been  hushed  into  silence  by  her  long 
sleep.  She  raised  her  swimming  eyes  to 
Mistress  Mary's  with  a  look  of  unspeakable 
trust.  "  I  love  you !  oh,  I  love,  love,  love 
you!  "  she  whispered,  and,  holding  the  flower 
close  to  her  breast,  she  breathed  a  sigh  of 
sweet  content,  and  sank  again  into  quiet 
slumber. 


XII. 

FLOTSAM    AND   JETSAM. 

IT  may  be  said  in  justice  to  Mrs.  Grubb 
that  she  was  more  than  usually  harassed 
just  at  this  time. 

Mrs.  Sylvester,  her  voluble  next-door 
neighbor,  who  had  lifted  many  sordid  cares 
from  her  shoulders,  had  suddenly  become 
tired  of  the  "new  method  of  mental  heal 
ing,"  and  during  a  brief  absence  of  Mrs. 
Grubb  from  the  city  had  issued  a  thousand 
embossed  gilt-edged  cards,  announcing  her 
self  as  a  Hand  Keader  in  the  following 
terms :  — 

TO   THE     ELITE     LADIES    AND    GENTLEMEN    OF    THE 
CITY  ! 

I  take  this  method  of  introducing  myself  to  your 
kind  consideration  as  a  Hand  Reader  of  rare  and  gen 
uine  merit  •  catering  merely  to  the  Creme  du  le  Creme 
of  this  city.  No  others  need  apply. 

Having  been  educated  carefully  and  refinedly, 
speaking  French  fluently,  therefore  I  only  wish  to 
deal  with  the  elite  of  the  bon-ton. 


FLOTSAM  AND  JETSAM.  133 

I  do  not  advertise  in  papers  nor  at  residence. 
Ladies  $1.50.  Gents  $2. 

Yours  truly, 

MRS.  PANSY  SYLVESTER, 
3  Eden  Place  near  4th, 

Lower  bell. 
P.  S.  Pupil  of  S.  CORA  GRUBB. 

Inasmuch  as  Mrs.  Sylvester  had  imbibed 
all  her  knowledge  from  Mrs.  Grubb,  that 
prophet  and  scholar  thought,  not  unnatu 
rally,  that  she  might  have  been  consulted 
about  the  enterprise,  particularly  as  the 
cards  were  of  a  nature  to  prejudice  the  bet 
ter  class  of  patients,  and  lower  the  social 
tone  of  the  temple  of  healing. 

As  if  this  were  not  vexatious  enough,  her 
plans  were  disarranged  in  another  and  more 
important  particular.  Mrs.  Sylvester's  man 
icure  had  set  up  a  small  establishment 
for  herself,  and  admitted  as  partner  a  cer 
tain  chiropodist  named  Boone.  The  two 
artists  felt  that  by  sharing  expenses  they 
might  increase  profits,  and  there  was  a 
sleeping  thought  in  both  their  minds  that 
the  partnership  might  ripen  into  marriage 
if  the  financial  returns  of  the  business  were 
satisfactory.  It  was  destined,  however,  to 
be  a  failure  in  both  respects ;  for  Dr.  Boone 


!34  HARM  LISA. 

looked  upon  Madame  Goldmarker,  the  vocal 
teacher  in  number  thirteen,  Eden  Place,  and 
to  look  upon  her  was  to  love  her  madly, 
since  she  earned  seventy-five  dollars  a 
month,  while  the  little  manicure  could  barely 
eke  out  a  slender  and  uncertain  twenty. 
In  such  crises  the  heart  can  be  trusted  to 
leap  in  the  right  direction  and  beat  at  the 
proper  rate. 

Mrs.  Grubb  would  have  had  small  inter 
est  in  these  sordid  romances  had  it  not  been 
that  Madame  Goldmarker  had  faithfully 
promised  to  look  after  Lisa  and  the  twins, 
so  that  Mrs.  Grubb  might  be  free  to  hold 
classes  in  the  adjoining  towns.  The  little 
blind  god  had  now  overturned  all  these 
well-laid  plans,  and  Mrs.  Grubb  was  for 
the  moment  the  victim  of  inexorable  circum 
stances. 

Ur.  Boone  fitted  up  princely  apartments 
next  his  office,  and  Madame  Goldmarker- 
Boone  celebrated  her  nuptials  and  her  de 
sertion  of  Eden  Place  by  making  a  formal 
debut  at  a  concert  in  Pocahontas  Hall. 
The  next  morning,  the  neighborhood  that 
knew  them  best,  and  many  other  neighbor 
hoods  that  knew  them  not  at  all,  received 
neat  printed  circulars  thrust  under  the  front 


FLOTSAM  AND   JETSAM.  135 

door.  Upon  one  side  of  the  paper  were 
printed  the  words  and  music  of  Home, 
Sweet  Home  "as  sung  by  Madame  Gold- 
marker-Boone  at  her  late  concert  in  Poca- 
hontas  Hall."  On  the  reverse  side  appeared 
a  picture  of  the  doctor,  a  neat  cut  of  a 
human  foot,  a  schedule  of  prices,  and  the 
alluring  promise  that  the  Madame 's  vocal 
pupils  would  receive  treatment  at  half  the 
regular  rates. 

Many  small  disputes  and  quarrels  were 
consequent  upon  these  business,  emotional, 
and  social  convulsions,  and  each  of  the  par 
ties  concerned,  from  Mrs.  Grubb  to  the 
chiropodist,  consulted  Mistress  Mary  and 
solicited  her  advice  and  interference. 

This  seemed  a  little  strange,  but  Mistress 
Mary's  garden  was  the  sort  of  place  to  act 
as  a  magnet  to  reformers,  eccentrics,  pro 
fessional  philanthropists,  and  cranks.  She 
never  quite  understood  the  reason,  and  for 
that  matter  nobody  else  did,  unless  it  were 
simply  that  the  place  was  a  trifle  out  of  the 
common,  and  she  herself  a  person  full  of 
ideas,  and  eminently  sympathetic  with  those 
of  other  people.  Anybody  could  "drop  in," 
and  as  a  consequence  everybody  did,  — 
grandmothers,  mothers  with  babes  in  arms, 


136  MAR M  LISA. 

teachers,  ministers,  photographers,  travel 
ers,  and  journalists.  A  Russian  gentleman 
who  had  escaped  from  Siberia  was  a  fre 
quent  visitor.  He  wanted  to  marry  Edith 
and  open  a  boarding-house  for  Russian  ex 
iles,  and  was  perfectly  confident  of  making 
her  happy,  as  he  spoke  seven  languages  and 
had  been  a  good  husband  to  two  Russian 
ladies  now  deceased.  An  Alaskan  mission 
ary,  home  on  a  short  leave,  called  periodi 
cally  and  attempted  to  persuade  Mary  to 
return  with  him  to  his  heathen.  These  suit 
ors  were  disposed  of  summarily  when  they 
made  their  desires  known,  but  there  were 
other  visitors,  part  of  the  flotsam  and  jet 
sam  of  a  great  city,  who  appeared  and  dis 
appeared  mysteriously,  —  ships  passing  Mis 
tress  Mary  in  the  night  of  sorrow,  and,  after 
some  despairing,  half -comprehended  signal, 
vanishing  into  the  shadows  out  of  which 
they  had  come.  Sometimes,  indeed,  inspired 
by  the  good  cheer  of  the  place,  they  departed 
looking  a  little  less  gloomy ;  sometimes,  too, 
they  grew  into  a  kind  of  active  if  transitory 
relation  with  the  busy  little  world,  and  be 
came,  for  the  time,  a  part  of  it. 

Mistress  Mary  went  down  to  the  street 
corner  with  the  children  one  noon  to  see 


FLOTSAM  AND   JETSAM.  137 

them  safely  over  the  crossing.  There  was 
generally  a  genial  policeman  who  made  it  a 
part  of  his  duty  to  stand  guard  there,  and 
guide  the  reckless  and  stupid  and  bewildered 
ones  among  the  youngsters  over  the  difficul 
ties  that  lay  in  their  path.  Sometimes  he 
would  devote  himself  exclusively  to  Atlan 
tic  and  Pacific  Simonson,  who  really  desired 
death,  though  they  were  not  spiritually  fitted 
for  it,  and  bent  all  their  energies  toward 
getting  under  trucks  rather  than  away  from 
them.  Marm  Lisa  never  approached  the 
spot  without  a  nervous  trembling  and  a  look 
of  terror  in  her  eyes,  and  before  the  advent 
of  the  helpful  officer  had  always  taken  a  twin 
by  each  arm,  and  the  three  had  gone  over 
thus  as  a  solid  body,  no  matter  how  strong 
the  resistance. 

On  this  special  morning  there  was  no 
guardian  of  the  peace  in  evidence,  but  stand 
ing  on  the  crossing  was  a  bearded  man  of 
perhaps  forty  years.  Kather  handsome  he 
was,  and  well  though  carelessly  dressed,  but 
he  stood  irresolutely,  with  his  hands  in  his 
pockets,  as  if  quite  undecided  what  to  do 
next.  Mary  simply  noted  him  as  an  alto 
gether  strange  figure  in  the  neighborhood, 
but  the  unexpected  appearance  of  a  large 


138  MARM  LISA. 

dog  on  the  scene  scattered  the  babies,  and 
they  fell  on  her  in  a  weeping  phalanx. 

"Will  you  kindly  help  a  little?"  she 
asked  after  a  moment's  waiting,  in  which 
any  chivalrous  gentleman,  she  thought, 
should  have  flung  himself  into  the  breach. 

"I?"  he  asked  vaguely.  "How  do  you 
mean?  What  shall  I  do ?" 

She  longed  to  say,  "Wake  up,  and  per 
haps  an  idea  will  come  to  you;"  but  she 
did  say,  with  some  spirit,  "Almost  any 
thing,  thank  you.  Drive  the  dog  away, 
and  help  some  of  the  smallest  children  across 
the  street,  please.  You  can  have  these  two  " 
(indicating  the  twins  smilingly),  "or  the 
other  ninety-eight,  — whichever  you  like." 

He  obeyed  orders,  though  not  in  a  very 
alert  fashion,  but  showed  a  sense  of  humor 
in  choosing  the  ninety-eight  rather  than  the 
two,  and  Mary  left  him  on  the  corner  with 
a  pleasant  word  of  thanks  and  a  cheery 
remark. 

The  next  morning  he  appeared  at  the 
garden  gate,  and  asked  if  he  might  come  in 
and  sit  awhile.  He  was  made  welcome; 
but  it  was  a  busy  morning,  and  he  was  so 
silent  a  visitor  that  everybody  forgot  his 
existence. 


FLOTSAM  AND   JETSAM.  139 

He  made  a  curious  impression,  which  can 
hardly  be  described,  save  that  any  student 
of  human  nature  would  say  at  once,  "He 
is  out  of  relation  with  the  world."  He  had 
something  of  the  expression  one  sees  in  a 
recluse  or  a  hermit.  If  you  have  ever  wan 
dered  up  a  mountain  side,  you  may  have 
come  suddenly  upon  a  hut,  a  rude  bed 
within  it,  and  in  the  door  a  man  reading, 
or  smoking,  or  gazing  into  vacancy.  You 
remember  the  look  you  met  in  that  man's 
eyes.  He  has  tasted  life  and  found  it  bit 
ter;  has  sounded  the  world  and  found  it 
hollow;  has  known  man  or  woman  and 
found  them  false.  Friendship  to  him  is 
without  savor,  and  love  without  hope. 

After  watching  the  children  for  an  hour, 
the  stranger  slipped  out  quietly.  Mistress 
Mary  followed  him  to  the  door,  abashed  at 
her  unintentional  discourtesy  in  allowing 
him  to  go  without  a  good-morning.  She 
saw  him  stand  at  the  foot  of  the  steps,  look 
first  up,  then  down  the  street,  then  walk 
aimlessly  to  the  corner.  There,  with  hands 
in  pockets,  he  paused  again,  glancing  four 
ways  ;  then,  with  a  shrug  and  a  gait  that 
seemed  to  say,  "It  makes  no  difference," 
he  slouched  away. 


140  MARM  LISA. 

"He  is  simply  a  stranger  in  a  strange 
city,  pining  for  his  home,"  thought  Mary, 
"or  else  he  is  a  stranger  in  every  city,  and 
has  nowhere  a  home." 

He  came  again  a  few  days  later,  and 
then  again,  apologizing  for  the  frequency  of 
his  visits,  but  giving  no  special  reason  for 
them.  The  neophytes  called  him  "the  Soli 
tary,"  but  the  children  christened  him  after 
a  fashion  of  their  own,  and  began  to  ask 
small  favors  of  him.  "Thread  my  needle, 
please,  Mr.  Man!"  "More  beads,"  or 
"More  paper,  Mr.  Man,  please." 

It  is  impossible  to  keep  out  of  relation 
with  little  children.  One  of  these  mites  of 
humanity  would  make  a  man  out  of  your 
mountain  hermit,  resist  as  he  might.  They 
set  up  a  claim  on  one  whether  it  exists  or 
not,  and  one  has  to  allow  it,  and  respond 
to  it  at  least  in  some  perfunctory  fashion. 
More  than  once,  as  Mr.  Man  sat  silently 
near  the  circle,  the  chubby  Baker  baby 
would  fall  over  his  feet,  and  he  would  invol 
untarily  stoop  to  pick  her  up,  straighten 
her  dress,  and  soothe  her  woe.  There  was 
no  hearty  pleasure  in  his  service  even  now. 
Nobody  was  certain  that  he  felt  any  plea 
sure  at  all.  His  helpfulness  was  not  spon- 


FLOTSAM  AND   JETSAM.  141 

taneous ;  it  seemed  a  kind  of  reflex  action, 
a  survival  of  some  former  state  of  mind  or 
heart;  for  he  did  his  favors  in  a  dream,  nor 
heard  any  thanks,  yet  the  elixir  was  work 
ing  in  his  veins. 

"He  is  dreadfully  in  the  way,"  grumbled 
Edith;  "he  is  more  ever-present  than  my 
ardent  Russian." 

"  So  long  as  he  insists  on  coming,  let  us 
make  him  supply  the  paternal  element," 
suggested  Rhoda.  "It  may  be  a  degrading 
confession,  but  we  could  afford  to  part  with 
several  women  here  if  we  could  only  secure 
a  really  fatherly  man.  The  Solitary  cannot 
indulge  in  any  day-dreams  or  trances,  if  we 
accept  him  as  the  patriarch  of  the  institu 
tion." 

Whereupon  they  boldly  asked  him,  on 
his  subsequent  visits,  to  go  upon  errands, 
and  open  barrels  of  apples,  and  order  intoxi 
cated  gentlemen  off  the  steps,  and  mend 
locks  and  window-fastenings,  and  sharpen 
lead-pencils,  and  put  on  coal,  and  tell  the 
lady  in  the  rear  that  her  parrot  interfered 
with  their  morning  prayers  by  shrieking  the 
hymns  in  impossible  keys.  He  accepted 
these  tasks  without  protest,  and  performed 
them  conscientiously,  save  in  the  parrot  dif- 


142  MARM  LISA. 

ficulty,  in  which  case  he  gave  one  look  at  the 
lady,  and  fled  without  opening  the  subject. 

It  could  not  be  said  that  he  appeared  more 
cheerful,  the  sole  sign  of  any  increased  ex 
hilaration  of  spirits  being  the  occasional 
straightening  of  his  cravat  and  the  smooth 
ing  of  his  hair,  —  refinements  of  toilet  that 
had  heretofore  been  much  neglected,  though 
he  always  looked  unmistakably  the  gentle 
man. 

He  seemed  more  attracted  by  Lisa  than 
by  any  of  the  smaller  children;  but  that 
may  have  been  because  Mary  had  told  him 
her  story,  thinking  that  other  people's  sto 
ries  were  a  useful  sort  of  thing  to  tell  people 
who  had  possible  stories  of  their  own. 

Lisa  was  now  developing  a  curious  and 
unexpected  facility  and  talent  in  the  musi 
cal  games.  She  played  the  tambourine,  the 
triangle,  the  drum,  as  nobody  else  could, 
and  in  accompanying  the  marches  she  in 
vented  all  sorts  of  unusual  beats  and  accents. 
It  grew  to  be  the  natural  thing  to  give  her 
difficult  parts  in  the  little  dramas  of  child 
life:  the  cock  that  crowed  in  the  morn  to 
wake  the  sleeping  birds  and  babies,  the 
mother  bird  in  the  nest,  the  spreading  wil 
low-tree  in  the  pond  where  the  frogs  con- 


FLOTSAM  AND   JETSAM.  143 

gregated,  —  these  roles  she  delighted  in  and 
played  with  all  her  soul. 

It  would  have  been  laughable,  had  it  not 
been  pathetic,  to  watch  her  drag  Mr.  Man 
into  the  games,  and  to  see  him  succumb  to 
her  persuasions  with  his  face  hanging  out 
flaming  signals  of  embarrassment.  In  the 
"Carrier  Doves"  the  little  pigeons  flew 
with  an  imaginary  letter  to  him,  and  this 
meant  that  he  was  to  stand  and  read  it 
aloud,  as  Mary  and  Edith  had  done  before 
him. 

"It  seems  to  be  a  letter  from  a  child,"  he 
faltered,  and  then  began  stammeringly, 
"'  My  dear  Mr.  Man  '  " —  There  was  a 
sudden  stop.  That  there  was  a  letter  in 
his  mind  nobody  could  doubt,  but  he  was 
too  greatly  moved  to  read  it.  Ehoda  quickly 
reached  out  her  hand  for  the  paper,  cover 
ing  his  discomfiture  by  exclaiming,  "The 
pigeons  have  brought  Mr.  Man  a  letter  from 
some  children  in  his  fatherland!  Yes" 
(reading),  "they  hope  that  we  will  be  good 
to  him,  because  he  is  far  away  from  home, 
and  they  send  their  love  to  all  Mistress 
Mary's  children.  Was  n't  it  pretty  of  the 
doves  to  remember  that  Mr.  Man  is  a 
stranger  here?" 


144  HARM  LISA. 

The  Solitary  appeared  for  the  last  time 
a  week  before  Thanksgiving  Day,  and  he 
opened  the  door  on  a  scene  of  jollity  that 
warmed  him  to  the  heart. 

In  the  middle  of  the  floor  was  a  mimic 
boat,  crowded  from  stem  to  stern  with  little 
Pilgrim  fathers  and  mothers  trying  to  land 
on  Plymouth  Rock,  in  a  high  state  of  excite 
ment  and  an  equally  high  sea.  Pat  Higgins 
was  a  chieftain  commanding  a  large  force 
of  tolerably  peaceful  Indians  on  the  shore, 
and  Massasoit  himself  never  exhibited  more 
dignity;  while  Marm  Lisa  was  the  proud 
mother  of  the  baby  Oceanus  born  on  the 
eventful  voyage  of  the  Mayflower. 

Then  Mistress  Mary  told  the  story  of  the 
festival  Very  simply  and  sweetly,  and  all  the 
tiny  Pilgrims  sang  a  hymn  of  thanksgiving. 
The  Solitary  listened,  with  his  heart  in  his 
eyes  and  a  sob  in  his  throat;  then,  Heaven 
knows  under  the  inspiration  of  what  mem 
ory,  he  brushed  Edith  from  the  piano-stool, 
and  seating  himself  in  her  place,  played  as 
if  he  were  impelled  by  some  irresistible 
force.  The  hand  of  a  master  had  never 
swept  those  keys  before,  and  he  held  his 
hearers  spellbound. 

There  was  a  silence  that  could  be  felt. 


FLOTSAM  AND   JETSAM.  145 

The  major  part  of  the  audience  were  not  of 
an  age  to  appreciate  high  art,  but  the  young 
sters  were  awed  by  the  strange  spectacle  of 
Mr.  Man  at  the  piano,  and  with  gaping 
mouth  and  strained  ear  listened  to  the  divine 
harmonies  he  evoked.  On  and  on  he  played, 
weaving  the  story  of  his  past  into  the  music, 
so  it  seemed  to  Mistress  Mary.  The  theme 
came  brokenly  and  uncertainly  at  first,  as 
his  thoughts  strove  for  expression.  Then 
out  of  the  bitterness  and  gall,  the  suffering 
and  the  struggle,  —  and  was  it  remorse  ?  — 
was  born  a  sweet,  resolute,  triumphant 
strain  that  carried  the  listeners  from  height 
to  height  of  sympathy  and  emotion.  It  had 
not  a  hint  of  serenity;  it  was  new-born 
courage,  aspiration,  and  self-mastery,  —  the 
song  of  "him  that  overcometh." 

When  he  paused,  there  was  a  deep-drawn 
breath,  a  sigh  from  hearts  surcharged  with 
feeling,  and  Lisa,  who  had  drawn  closer 
and  closer  to  the  piano,  stood  there  now, 
one  hand  leaning  on  Mr.  Man's  shoulder 
and  the  tears  chasing  one  another  down  her 
cheeks. 

"It  hurts  me  here,"  she  sighed,  pressing 
her  hand  to  her  heart. 

He  rose  presently  and  left  the  room  with- 


146  HARM  LISA. 

out  a  word,  while  the  children  prepared  for 
home -going  with  a  subdued  air  of  having 
assisted  at  some  solemn  rite. 

When  Mistress  Mary  went  out  on  the 
steps,  a  little  later,  he  was  still  there. 

"  It  is  the  last  time !  Auf  wiedersehen !  " 
he  said. 

"Auf  wiedersehen,"  she  answered  gently, 
giving  him  her  hand. 

"Have  you  no  Thanksgiving  sermon  for 
me?"  he  asked,  holding  her  fingers  linger- 
ingly.  "No  child  in  all  your  flock  needs  it 
so  much." 

"Yes,"  said  Mary,  her  eyes  falling,  for 
a  moment,  beneath  his  earnest  gaze;  but 
suddenly  she  lifted  them  again  as  she  said 
bravely,  "I  have  a  sermon,  but  it  is  one 
with  a  trumpet-call,  and  little  balm  in  it. 
4  Unto  whomsoever  anything  is  given,  of  him 
something  shall  be  required. '  ' 

When  he  reached  the  corner  of  the  street 
he  stopped,  but  instead  of  glancing  four 
ways,  as  usual,  he  looked  back  at  the  porch 
where  Mistress  Mary  stood.  She  carried 
Jenny  Baker,  a  rosy  sprig  of  babyhood,  in 
the  lovely  curve  of  her  arm,  Bobby  Baxter 
clasped  her  neck  from  behind  in  a  strang 
ling  embrace,  Johnny  and  Meg  and  Billy 


FLOTSAM  AND   JETSAM.  147 

were  tugging  at  her  apron,  and  Marm  Lisa 
was  standing  on  tiptoe  trying  to  put  a  rose 
in  her  hair.  Then  the  Solitary  passed  into 
the  crowd,  and  they  saw  him  in  the  old 
places  no  more. 


XIII. 

LEAVES    FROM   MISTRESS   MARY'S   GARDEN. 


have  an  unknown  benefactor.  A 
fortnight  ago  came  three  bushels  of  flowers  : 
two  hundred  tiny  nosegays  marked  c  For  the 
children,  '  half  a  dozen  knots  of  pink  roses 
for  the  '  little  mothers,  '  a  dozen  scarlet  car 
nations  for  Lisa,  while  one  great  bunch  of 
white  lilies  bore  the  inscription  '  For  the 
Mother  Superior.'  Last  week  a  barrel  of 
apples  and  another  of  oranges  appeared 
mysteriously,  and  to-day  comes  a  note, 
written  in  a  hand  we  do  not  recognize,  say 
ing  we  are  not  to  buy  holly,  mistletoe,  ever 
greens,  Christmas  tree,  or  baubles  of  any 
kind,  as  they  will  be  sent  to  us  on  Decem 
ber  22.  We  have  inquired  of  our  friends, 
but  have  no  clew  as  yet,  further  than  it  must 
be  somebody  who  knows  our  needs  and  de 
sires  very  thoroughly.  We  have  certainly 
entertained  an  angel  unawares,  but  which 
among  the  crowd  of  visitors  is  it  most  likely 
to  be  ?  The  Solitary,  I  wonder  ?  I  should 


LEAVES   FROM  MARTS    GARDEN.      149 

never  have  thought  it,  were  it  not  for  the 
memory  of  that  last  day,  the  scene  at  the 
piano,  the  'song  of  him  that  overcometh,' 
and  the  backward  glance  from  the  corner 
as  he  sprang,  absolutely  sprang,  on  the  car. 
There  was  purpose  in  it,  or  I  am  greatly 
mistaken.  Mr.  Man's  eyes  would  be  worth 
looking  into,  if  one  could  find  purpose  in 
their  brown  depths!  Moreover,  though  I 
am  too  notorious  a  dreamer  of  dreams  to  be 
trusted,  I  cannot  help  fancying  he  went  back 
to  something;  it  was  not  a  mere  forward 
move,  not  a  sudden  determination  to  find 
some  new  duty  to  do  that  life  might  grow 
nobler  and  sweeter,  but  a  return  to  an  old 
duty  grown  hateful.  That  was  what  I  saw 
in  his  face  as  he  stood  on  the  crossing,  with 
the  noon  sunshine  caught  in  his  tawny  hair 
and  beard.  Rhoda,  Edith,  and  I  have  each 
made  a  story  about  him,  and  each  of  us 
would  vouch  for  the  truth  of  her  particular 
version.  I  will  not  tell  mine,  but  this  is 
Rhoda' s;  and  while  it  differs  from  my  own 
in  several  important  particulars,  it  yet  bears 
an  astonishing  resemblance  to  it.  It  is 
rather  romantic;  but  if  one  is  to  make  any 
sort  of  story  out  of  the  Solitary  it  must  be 
a  romantic  one,  for  he  suggests  no  other. 


150  MARM  LISA. 

"Rhoda  began  her  tale  with  a  thrilling 
introduction   that   set  us  all  laughing  (we 
smile  here  when  still  the  tears  are  close  at 
hand;  indeed,  we  must  smile,  or  we  could 
not    live):    the    prelude    being    something 
about  a  lonely  castle   in  the  heart  of  the 
Hartz  Mountains,   and  a  prattling  golden- 
haired   babe    stretching    its  arms   across   a 
ruined  moat  in  the  direction  of  its  absent 
father.     This  was  in  the  nature  of  an  absurd 
prologue,  but  when  she  finally  came  to  the 
Solitary    she    grew   serious;   for   she   made 
him  in   the  bygone  days  a  sensitive  child 
and   a   dreamy,    impetuous   youth,    with   a 
domineering,    ill-tempered   father  who  was 
utterly  unable  and  unwilling  to  understand 
or  to  sympathize  with  him.     His  younger 
brother  (for    Rhoda   insists   on    a   younger 
brother)  lived  at  home,  while  he,  the  elder, 
spent,  or  misspent,  his  youth  and  early  man 
hood  in  a  German  university.     As  the  years 
went  on,  the  relations  between  himself  and 
his  father  grew  more  and   more   strained. 
Do  as  the  son  might,  he  could  never  please, 
either  in  his  line  of  thought  and  study  or  in 
his   practical   pursuits.     The   father   hated 
his  books,   his  music,   his   poetry,   and  his 
artist  friends,  while  he  on  his  part  found 


LEAVES   FROM  MARTS    GARDEN.      151 

nothing  to  stimulate  or  content  him  in  his 
father's   tasks   and   manner    of    life.     His 
mother  pined  and  died  in  the  effort  to  keep 
peace  between  them,  but  the  younger  bro 
ther's  schemes  were  quite  in    an   opposite 
direction.     At   this   time   Mr.    Man    flung 
himself   into  a  foolish  marriage,   one  that 
promised  little  in  the  shape  of  the  happiness 
he   craved   so   eagerly.     (Khoda  insists  on 
this   unhappy   marriage;    I    am    in    doubt 
about  it.)     Finally  his  father  died,  and  on 
being  summoned  home,  as  he  supposed,  to 
take  his  rightful  place  and  assume  the  man 
agement  of  the  estate,  he  found  himself  dis 
inherited.     He  could  have  borne  the  loss  of 
fortune   and   broad   acres  better  than  this 
convincing  proof  of  his  father's  dislike  and 
distrust,   and  he  could  have  endured  even 
that,  had  it  not  befallen  him  through  the 
perfidy  of  his  brother.     When,  therefore, 
he  was  met  by  his  wife's  bitter  reproaches 
and  persistent  coldness,  he  closed  his  heart 
against   all   the   world,   shook   the  dust   of 
home  from  off  his  feet,  left  his  own  small 
fortune  behind  him,  kissed  his  little  son, 
and  became  a  wanderer  on  the  face  of  the 
earth. 

"This  is  substantially  Rhoda's  story,  but 


152  HARM  LISA. 

it  does  not  satisfy  her  completely.  She 
says,  in  her  whimsical  way,  that  it  needs 
another  villain  to  account  properly  for  Mr. 
Man's  expression. 

"Would   it   not   be    strange    if    by   any 
chance  we  have  brought  him  to  a  happier 
frame  of  mind?     Would  it  not  be  a  lovely 
tribute  to  the  secret  power  of  this  place,  to 
the  healing  atmosphere  of  love  that  we  try 
to  create,  —  that  atmosphere   in  which  we 
bathe  our  own  tired  spirits  day  by  day,  re 
creating  ourselves  with   every  new  dawn? 
But  whether  our  benefactor  be  the  Solitary 
or  not,   some  heart  has  been  brought  into 
new  relation  with  us  and  with  the  world. 
It  only  confirms  my  opinion  that  everybody 
is  at  his  or  her  best  in  the  presence  of  chil 
dren.     In  what  does  the  magic  of  their  in 
fluence  consist?     This  morning  I  was  riding 
down  in  the  horse -cars,  and  a  poor  ragged 
Italian  woman  entered,  a  baby  in  her  arms, 
and  two  other  children  following  close  be 
hind.     The  girl  was  a  mite  of  a  thing,  pre 
maturely  grave,  serious,  pretty,  and  she  led 
a  boy  just  old  enough  to  toddle.     She  lifted 
him  carefully  up  to  the  seat  (she  who  should 
have   been   lifted   herself!),    took   his   hat, 
smoothed  his  damp  curly  hair,  and  tucked 


LEAVES   FROM   MARY'S    GARDEN.      153 

his  head  down  on  her  shoulder,  a  shoulder 
that  had  begun  its  life-work  full  early,  poor 
tot!  The  boy  was  a  feeble,  frail,  ill-nour 
ished,  dirty  young  urchin,  who  fell  asleep  as 
soon  as  his  head  touched  her  arm.  His 
child  nurse,  having  made  him  comfortable, 
gave  a  sigh  of  relief,  and  looked  up  and 
down  the  car  with  a  radiant  smile  of  con 
tent.  Presto,  change!  All  the  railroad 
magnates  and  clerks  had  been  watching  her 
over  their  newspapers,  and  in  one  instant 
she  had  captured  the  car.  I  saw  tears  in 
many  eyes,  and  might  have  seen  more  had 
not  my  own  been  full.  There  was  appar 
ently  no  reason  for  the  gay,  winsome,  en 
chanting  smile  that  curved  the  red  mouth, 
brought  two  dimples  into  the  brown  cheeks, 
and  sunny  gleams  into  two  dark  eyes.  True, 
she  was  riding  instead  of  walking,  and  her 
charge  was  sleeping  instead  of  waking  and 
wailing;  but  these  surely  were  trifling  mat 
ters  on  which  to  base  such  rare  content. 
Yet  there  it  was  shining  in  her  face  as  she 
met  a  dozen  pairs  of  eyes,  and  saw  in  each 
of  them  love  for  her  sweet  motherly  little 
self,  and  love  for  the  '  eternal  womanly '  of 
which  she  was  the  visible  expression.  There 
was  a  general  exodus  at  Brett  Street,  and 


154  MARM   LISA. 

every  man  furtively  slipped  a  piece  of  silver 
into  the  child's  lap  as  he  left  the  car;  each, 
I  think,  trying  to  hide  his  action  from  the 
others. 

"It  is  of  threads  such  as  these  that  I 
weave  the  fabric  of  my  daily  happiness,  — 
a  happiness  that  my  friends  never  seem  able 
to  comprehend;  the  blindest  of  them  pity 
me,  indeed,  but  I  consider  myself,  like 
Mary  of  old,  '  blessed  among  women.' ' 

Another  day.  —  "God  means  all  sorts  of 
things  when  he  sends  men  and  women  into 
the  world.  That  he  means  marriage,  and 
that  it  is  the  chiefest  good,  I  have  no  doubt, 
but  it  is  the  love  forces  in  it  that  make  it 
so.  I  may,  perhaps,  reach  my  highest 
point  of  development  without  marriage,  but 
I  can  never  do  it  unless  I  truly  and  deeply 
love  somebody  or  something.  I  am  not 
sure,  but  it  seems  to  me  God  intends  me  for 
other  people's  children,  not  for  my  own. 
My  heart  is  so  entirely  in  my  work  that  I 
fancy  I  have  none  left  for  a  possible  hus 
band.  If  ever  a  man  comes  who  is  strong 
enough  and  determined  enough  to  sweep 
things  aside  and  make  a  place  for  himself, 
willy-nilly,  I  shall  ask  him  to  come  in  and 


LEAVES   FROM  MARY'S    GARDEN.      155 

rest ;  but  that  seems  very  unlikely.  What 
man  have  I  ever  seen  who  would  help  me  to 
be  the  woman  my  work  helps  me  to  be  ?  Of 
course  there  are  such,  but  the  Lord  keeps 
them  safely  away  from  my  humble  notice, 
lest  I  should  die  of  love  or  be  guilty  of 
hero-worship. 

"Men  are  so  dull,  for  the  most  part! 
They  are  often  tender  and  often  loyal,  but 
they  seldom  put  any  spiritual  leaven  into 
their  tenderness,  and  their  loyalty  is  apt  to 
be  rather  unimaginative.  Heigho!  I  wish  - 
we  could  make  lovers  as  the  book-writers 
do,  by  rolling  the  virtues  and  graces  of  two 
or  three  men  into  one !  I'd  almost  like  to 
be  a  man  in  this  decade,  a  young,  strong 
man,  for  there  are  such  splendid  giants  to 
slay!  To  be  sure,  a  woman  can  always 
buckle  on  the  sword,  and  that  is  rather  a 
delightful  avocation,  after  all;  but  somehow 
there  are  comparatively  few  men  nowadays 
who  care  greatly  to  wear  swords  or  have 
them  buckled  on.  There  is  no  inspiration 
in  trying  to  buckle  on  the  sword  of  a  man 
who  never  saw  one,  and  who  uses  it  wrong 
end  foremost,  and  falls  down  on  it,  and  en 
tangles  his  legs  in  it,  and  scratches  his 
lady's  hand  with  it  whenever  he  kisses  her! 


156  HARM  LISA. 

And  therefore,  these  things,  for  aught  I  see, 
being  unalterably  so,  I  will  take  children's 
love,  woman's  love,  and  man's  friendship; 
man's  friendship,  which,  if  it  is  not  life's 
poetry,  is  credible  prose,  says  George  Mere 
dith,  — '  a  land  of  low  undulations,  instead 
of  Alps,  beyond  the  terrors  and  deceptions.' 
That  will  fill  to  overflowing  my  life,  already 
so  full,  and  in  time  I  shall  grow  from  every 
body's  Mistress  Mary  into  everybody's  Mo 
ther  Mary,  and  that  will  be  the  end  of  me 
in  my  present  state  of  being.  I  am  happy, 
yes,  I  am  blessedly  happy  in  this  prospect, 
and  yet " 

Another  day.  —  "My  beloved  work! 
How  beautiful  it  is!  Toniella  has  not 
brought  little  Nino  this  week.  She  says  he 
is  ill,  but  that  he  sits  every  day  in  the 
orchard,  singing  our  songs  and  modeling 
birds  from  the  lump  of  clay  we  sent  him. 
When  I  heard  that  phrase  '  in  the  orchard,' 
I  felt  a  curious  sensation,  for  I  know  they 
live  in  a  tenement  house ;  but  I  said  nothing, 
and  went  to  visit  them. 

"The  orchard  is  a  few  plants  in  pots  and 
pans  on  a  projecting  window-sill! 

"My  heart  went  down  on  its  knees  when 


LEAVES   FROM  MARY'S    GARDEN.      157 

I  saw  it.  The  divine  spark  is  in  those  chil 
dren;  it  will  be  a  moving  power,  helping 
them  to  struggle  out  of  their  present  envi 
ronment  into  a  wider,  sunnier  one,  — the 
one  of  the  real  orchards.  How  fresh,  how 
full  of  possibilities,  is  the  world  to  the  peo 
ple  who  can  keep  the  child  heart,  and  above 
all  to  the  people  who  are  able  to  see  or 
chards  in  window-boxes!  " 

Another  day.  —  "Lisa's  daily  lesson  is 
just  finished.  It  was  in  arithmetic,  and 
I  should  have  lost  patience  had  it  not  been 
for  her  musical  achievements  this  morning. 
Edith  played  the  airs  of  twenty  or  thirty 
games,  and  without  a  word  of  help  from  us 
she  associated  the  right  memory  with  each, 
and  illustrated  it  with  pantomime.  In  some 
cases,  she  invented  gestures  of  her  own  that 
showed  deeper  intuition  than  ours;  and 
when,  last  of  all,  the  air  of  the  Carrier 
Doves  was  played,  a  vision  of  our  Solitary 
must  have  come  before  her  mind.  Her  lip 
trembling,  she  held  an  imaginary  letter  in 
her  fingers,  and,  brushing  back  the  hair 
from  her  forehead  (his  very  gesture!),  she 
passed  her  hand  across  her  eyes,  laid  the 
make-believe  note  in  Rhoda's  apron,  and 
slipped  out  of  the  door  without  a  word. 


158  MARM  LISA. 

"'  Mr.  Man!  Mr.  Man!  It  is  Mr.  Man 
when  he  couldn't  read  his  letter!'  cried 
the  children.  '  Why  doesn't  he  come  to 
see  us  any  more,  Miss  Rhoda?  ' 

"'  He  is  doing  some  work  for  Miss  Mary, 
I  think,'  answered  Rhoda,  with  a  teasing 
look  at  me. 

"Lisa  came  back  just  then,  and  rubbed 
her  cheek  against  my  arm.  '  I  went  to  the 
corner,'  she  whispered,  'but  he  wasn't 
there ;  he  is  never  there  now !  ' 

"It  was  the  remembrance  of  this  aston 
ishing  morning  that  gave  me  courage  in  the 
later  lesson.  She  seems  to  have  no  idea  of 
numbers,  —  there  will  be  great  difficulty 
there,  —  but  she  begins  to  read  well,  and 
the  marvel  of  it  is  that  she  has  various  tal 
ents!  She  is  weak,  uneducated;  many 
things  are  either  latent  or  altogether  miss 
ing  in  her  as  yet,  and  I  do  not  know  how 
many  of  them  will  appear,  nor  how  long  a 
process  it  will  be ;  but  her  mind  is  full  of 
compensations,  and  that  is  the  last  thing  I 
expected.  It  is  only  with  infinite  struggle 
that  she  learns  anything,  though  she  is  ca 
pable  of  struggle,  and  that  is  a  good  deal  to 
say ;  but  she  has  besides  a  precious  heritage 
of  instincts  and  insights,  hitherto  unsus- 


LEAVES   FROM  MARTS    GARDEN.      159 

pected  and  never  drawn  upon.  It  is  pre 
cisely  as  if  there  had  been  a  bundle  of  pos 
sibilities  folded  away  somewhere  in  her 
brain,  but  hidden  by  an  intervening  veil,  or 
crushed  by  some  alien  weight.  We  seem 
to  have  drawn  away  that  curtain  or  lifted 
that  weight,  and  the  faculties  so  long  ob 
scured  are  stretching  themselves  and  grow 
ing  with  their  new  freedom.  It  reminds 
me  of  the  weak,  stunted  grass  blades  under 
a  stone.  I  am  always  lifting  it  and  rolling 
it  away,  sentimentally  trying  to  give  the 
struggling  shoots  a  chance.  One  can  see 
for  many  a  long  day  where  the  stone  has 
been,  but  the  grass  forgets  it  after  a  while, 
when  it  breathes  the  air  and  sunshine,  tastes 
the  dew  and  rain,  and  feels  the  miracle  of 
growth  within  its  veins." 

Another  day.  —  "  The  twins  are  certainly 
improving  a  trifle.  They  are  by  no  means 
angelic,  but  they  are  at  least  growing  hu 
man;  and  if  ever  their  tremendous  energy 
—  a  very  whirlwind  —  is  once  turned  in  the 
right  direction,  we  shall  see  things  move,  I 
warrant  you!  Rhoda  says  truly  that  the 
improvement  cannot  be  seen  with  the  naked 
eye ;  but  the  naked  eye  is  never  in  use  with 


160  HARM  LISA. 

us,  in  our  work,  nor  indeed  with  the  Father 
of  Lights,  who  teaches  us  all  to  see  truly  if 
we  will. 

"  The  young  minister  has  spent  a  morning 
with  us.  He  came  to  make  my  acquaint 
ance,  shook  me  warmly  by  the  hand,  and 
—  that  was  the  last  I  saw  of  him,  for  he 
kept  as  close  to  Rhoda's  side  as  circum 
stances  would  permit!  The  naked  eye  is 
all  one  needs  to  discern  his  motives !  Psy 
chological  observations,  indeed!  Child 
study,  forsooth!  It  was  lovely  to  see 
Rhoda's  freshness,  spontaneity,  and  uncon 
sciousness,  as  she  flitted  about  like  a  pretty 
cardinal-bird.  Poor  young  minister,  whose 
heart  is  dangling  at  the  strings  of  her  scar 
let  apron!  Lucky  young  minister,  if  his 
arm  ever  goes  about  that  slender  red-rib 
boned  waist,  and  his  lips  ever  touch  that 
glowing  cheek!  But  poor  me!  what  will 
the  garden  be  without  our  crimson  rose?" 


XIV. 

MORE   LEAVES. 

"!T  has  been  one  of  the  discouraging 
days.  Lisa  was  willful;  the  twins  had  a 
moral  relapse;  the  young  minister  came 
again,  and,  oh,  the  interminable  length  of 
time  he  held  Rhoda's  hand  at  parting!  Is 
it  not  strange  that,  with  the  whole  universe 
to  choose  from,  his  predatory  eye  must  fall 
upon  my  blooming  Rhoda?  I  wonder 
whether  the  fragrance  she  will  shed  upon 
that  one  small  parsonage  will  be  as  widely 
disseminated  as  the  sweetness  she  exhales 
here,  day  by  day,  among  our  4  little  people 
all  in  a  row  ?  '  I  am  not  sure ;  I  hope  so ; 
at  any  rate,  selfishness  must  not  be  suffered 
to  eclipse  my  common  sense,  and  the  young 
minister  seems  a  promising,  manly  fellow. 

"When  we  have  had  a  difficult  day,  I  go 
home  and  sit  down  in  my  cosy  comer  in  the 
twilight,  the  time  and  place  where  I  always 
repeat  my  credo,  which  is  this :  — 

"It  is  the  children  of  this  year,  of  every 


MARM  LISA. 


new  year,  who  are  to  bring  the  full  dawn, 
that  dawn  that  has  been  growing  since  first 
the  world  began.  It  is  not  only  that  chil 
dren  re-create  the  world  year  by  year,  de 
cade  by  decade,  by  making  over  human 
nature  ;  by  transforming  trivial,  thoughtless 
men  and  women  into  serious,  earnest  ones  ; 
by  waking  in  arid  natures  slumbering  seeds 
of  generosity,  self-sacrifice,  and  helpfulness. 
It  is  not  alone  in  this  way  that  children  are 
bringing  the  dawn  of  the  perfect  day.  It 
is  the  children  (bless  them!  how  naughty 
they  were  to-day  !)  who  are  going  to  do  all 
we  have  left  undone,  all  we  have  failed  to 
do,  all  we  might  have  done  had  we  been 
wise  enough,  all  we  have  been  too  weak  and 
stupid  to  do. 

"Among  the  thousands  of  tiny  things 
growing  up  all  over  the  land,  some  of  them 
under  my  very  wing,  —  watched  and  tended, 
unwatched  and  untended,  loved,  unloved, 
protected  from  danger,  thrust  into  tempta 
tion,  —  among  them  somewhere  is  the  child 
who  will  write  a  great  poem  that  will  live 
forever  and  ever,  kindling  every  generation 
to  a  loftier  ideal.  There  is  the  child  who 
will  write  the  novel  that  is  to  stir  men's 
hearts  to  nobler  issues  and  incite  them  to 


MORE   LEAVES.  163 

better  deeds.  There  is  the  child  (perhaps 
it  is  Nino)  who  will  paint  the  greatest  pic 
ture  or  carve  the  greatest  statue  of  the  age : 
another  who  will  deliver  his  country  in  an 
hour  of  peril;  another  who  will  give  his  life 
for  a  great  principle;  and  another,  born 
more  of  the  spirit  than  the  flesh,  who  will 
live  continually  on  the  heights  of  moral 
being,  and  dying,  draw  men  after  him.  It 
may  be  I  shall  preserve  one  of  these  chil 
dren  to  the  race,  —  who  knows  ?  It  is  a 
peg  big  enough  on  which  to  hang  a  hope, 
for  every  child  born  into  the  world  is  a  new 
incarnate  thought  of  God,  an  ever  fresh  and 
radiant  possibility." 

Another  day. —  "Would  I  had  the  gift 
to  capture  Mrs.  Grubb  and  put  her  between 
the  covers  of  a  book ! 

"It  tickles  Rhoda's  fancy  mightily  that 
the  Vague  Lady  (as  we  call  her)  should  take 
Lisa  before  the  Commissioners  of  Lunacy ! 
Rhoda  says  that  if  she  has  an  opportunity 
to  talk  freely  with  them,  they  will  inevita 
bly  jump  at  the  conclusion  that  Lisa  has 
brought  her  for  examination,  as  she  is  so 
much  the  more  irrational  of  the  two !  Rhoda 
facetiously  imagines  a  scene  in  which  a  rev- 


164  MARM  LISA. 

erend  member  of  the  body  takes  Lisa  aside 
and  says  solemnly,  '  My  dear  child,  you 
have  been  wise  beyond  your  years  in  bring 
ing  us  your  guardian,  and  we  cannot  allow 
her  to  be  at  large  another  day,  lest  she  be 
come  suddenly  violent. ' 

"  Of  late  I  have  noticed  that  she  has  grad 
ually  dropped  one  club  and  society  after 
another,  concentrating  her  attention  more 
and  more  upon  Theosophy.  Every  strange 
weed  and  sucker  that  can  grow  anywhere 
flourishes  in  the  soil  of  her  mind,  and  if  a 
germ  of  truth  or  common  sense  does  chance 
to  exist  in  any  absurd  theory,  it  is  choked 
by  the  time  it  has  lain  there  among  the  un 
derbrush  for  a  little  space;  so  that  when 
she  begins  her  harvesting  (which  is  always 
a  long  while  before  anything  is  ripe),  one 
can  never  tell  precisely  what  sort  of  crop 
was  planted. 

"It  seems  that  the  Theosophists  are  con 
sidering  the  establishment  of  a  colony  of 
Mahatmas  at  Mojave,  on  the  summit  of  the 
Tehachapi  Mountains.  Their  present  hab 
itat  is  the  Himalayas,  but  there  is  no  reason 
why  we  should  not  encourage  them  to  settle 
in  this  country.  The  Tehachapis  would 
give  as  complete  retirement  as  the  Hima- 


MORE   LEAVES.  165 

lay  as,  while  the  spiritual  advantages  to  be 
derived  from  an  infusion  of  Mahatmas  into 
our  population  is  self-evident.  '  Think,  my 
sisters,'  Mrs.  Grubb  would  say,  'think, 
that  our  mountain  ranges  may  some  time 
be  peopled  by  omniscient  beings  thousands 
of  years  old  and  still  growing !  '  Up  to  this 
last  aberration  I  have  had  some  hope  of 
Grubb  o'  Dreams.  I  thought  it  a  good 
sign,  her  giving  up  so  many  societies  and 
meetings.  The  house  is  not  any  tidier,  but 
at  least  she  stays  in  it  occasionally.  In  the 
privacy  of  my  own  mind  I  have  been  ascrib 
ing  this  slight  reformation  to  the  most  ordi 
nary  cause,  —  namely,  a  Particular  Man. 
It  would  never  have  occurred  to  me  in  her 
case  had  not  Edith  received  confidential 
advices  from  Mrs.  Sylvester. 

"'We're  going  to  lose  her,  I  feel  it!' 
said  Mrs.  Sylvester.  '  I  feel  it,  and  she 
alludes  to  it  herself.  There  ain't  but  two 
ways  of  her  classes  losing  her,  death  and 
marriage;  and  as  she  looks  too  healthy  to 
die,  it  must  be  the  other  one.  She  's  never 
accepted  any  special  attentions  till  about  a 
month  ago,  when  the  Improved  Order  of 
Ked  Men  held  their  Great  Council  here. 
You  see  she  used  to  be  Worthy  Wenonah 


MARM  LISA. 


of  Pocahontas  Lodge  years  ago,  when  my 
husband  was  Great  Keeper  of  the  Wampum, 
but  she  hasn't  attended  regularly;  a  woman 
is  so  handicapped,   when  it  comes  to  any 
kind  of  public  work,  by  her  home  and  her 
children.  —  I   do   hope    I    shall    live    long 
enough  to  see  all  those  kind  of  harassing 
duties  performed  in  public,  cooperative  in 
stitutions.  —  She   went   to   the    Council   to 
keep  me  company,  mostly,  but  the  very  first 
evening  I   could   see   that  William   Burk- 
hardt,  of  Bald  Eagle  No.   62,  was  struck 
with  her;    she    lights   up   splendidly,   Mrs. 
Grubb   does.     He   stayed   with   her    every 
chance  he  got  during  the  week:  but  I  did 
n't   see  her  give  him  any  encouragement, 
and  I  should  never  have  thought  of  it  again 
if  she  hadn't  come  home  late  from  one  of 
the  Council  Fires  at  the  Wigwam.     I  was 
just  shutting  my  bedroom  blinds.     I  tried 
not  to  listen,  for  I  despise  eavesdropping,  of 
all  things,  but  I  couldn't  help  hearing  her 
say,   "No,  Mr.   Burkhardt,  you  are  only  a 
Junior    Sagamore,    and    I    am    ambitious. 
When  you  are  a  Great  Sachem,  it  will  be 
time  enough  to  consider  the  matter." 

"Mrs.    Sylvester,    Edith,   and   I   agreed 
that  this  was  most  significant,  but  we  may 


MORE   LEAVES.  167 

have  been  mistaken,  according  to  her  latest 
development.     The  c  passing  away  '  so  feel 
ingly  alluded  to  by  Mrs.  Sylvester  is  to  be 
of  a  different  sort.     She  has  spoken  myste 
riously  to  me  before  of  her  reasons  for  deny 
ing  herself   luxuries;    of   the  goal  she  ex 
pected  to  reach  through  rigid  denial  of  the 
body  and  training  of  the  spirit ;  of  her  long 
ing  to  come  less  in  contact  with  the  foul 
magnetism  of  the  common  herd,   so  detri 
mental  to  her  growth ;  but  she  formally  an 
nounced  to  me  in  strict  confidence  to-day 
her  ambition  to  be  a  Mahatma.     Of  course 
she  has  been  so  many  things  that  there  are 
comparatively  few  left;  still,  say  whatever 
we  like,  she  has  the  spirit  of  all  the  Argo 
nauts,  that  woman !     She  has  been  an  Ini 
tiate  for  some  time,   and  considers  herself 
quite  ready  for  the  next  step,  which  is  to  be 
a  Chela.     It  is  unnecessary  to   state   that 
she  climbs  the   ladder   of   evolution   much 
faster  than  the  ordinary  Theosophist,  who  is 
somewhat  slow  in  his  movements,  and  often 
deals  in  centuries,  or  even  aBons. 

"  I  did  not  know  that  there  were  female 
Mahatmas,  reasoning  unconsciously  from 
the  fact  that  an  Adept  is  supposed  to  hold 
his  peace  for  many  years  before  he  can  even 


168 


MARM  LISA. 


contemplate  the  possibility  of  being  a  Ma- 
hatma.     (The    idea   of   Grubb    o'    Dreams 
holding  her  peace  is  too  absurd  for  argu 
ment.)     There  are  many  grades  of  Adepts, 
it  seems,  ranging  from  the  '  topmost '  Ma- 
hatmas  down.     The  highest  of  all,  the  Nir- 
manakayas,   are  self-conscious  without  the 
body,  traveling  hither  and  thither  with  but 
one  object,  that  of  helping  humanity.     As 
we  descend  the  scale,  we  find  Adepts  (and 
a  few  second-class  Mahatmas)  living  in  the 
body,  for  the  wheel  of  Karma  has  not  en 
tirely  revolved  for  them;   but  they  have  a 
key  to  their   'prison'   (that  is  what  Mrs. 
Grubb  calls  her  nice,   pretty  body!),   and 
can  emerge  from  it  at  pleasure.     That  is, 
any  really  capable  and  energetic  Adept  can 
project  his  soul  from  its  prison  to  any  place 
that  he  pleases,  with  the  rapidity  of  thought. 
I  may  have  my  personal  doubts  as  to  the 
possibilities  of  this  gymnastic  feat,  but  Mrs. 
Grubb 's  intellectual  somersaults  have  been 
of  such  thoroughness  and  frequency  that  I 
am  sure,  if  anybody  can  perform  the  gyra 
tion,  she  can !    Meantime,  there  are  decades 
of  retirement,  meditation,  and  preparation 
necessary,  and  she  can  endure   nothing  of 
that  sort  in  this  present  incarnation,  so  the 
parting  does  not  seem  imminent ! 


MORE  LEAVES.  169 

"She  came  to  consult  me  about  Soul 
Haven  for  the  twins.  I  don't  think  it  a 
wholly  bad  plan.  The  country  is  better 
for  them  than  the  city  ;  we  can  manage 
to  get  occasional  news  of  their  welfare ;  it 
will  tide  over  the  brief  interval  of  time 
needed  by  Mrs.  Grubb  for  growing  into  a 
Chela;  and  in  any  event,  they  are  sure  to 
run  away  from  the  Haven  as  soon  as  they 
become  at  all  conscious  of  their  souls,  a 
moment  which  I  think  will  be  considerably 
delayed. 

"Mrs.  Grubb  will  not  yield  Lisa  until 
she  is  certain  that  the  Soul  Haven  colonists 
will  accept  the  twins  without  a  caretaker, 
but  unless  the  matter  is  quietly  settled  by 
the  new  year  I  shall  find  some  heroic  means 
of  changing  her  mind.  I  have  considered 
the  matter  earnestly  for  many  months  with 
out  knowing  precisely  how  to  find  sufficient 
money  for  the  undertaking.  My  own  in 
come  can  be  stretched  to  cover  her  mainte 
nance,  but  it  is  not  sufficient  to  give  her 
the  proper  sort  of  education.  She  is  beyond 
my  powers  now,  and  perhaps  —  nay,  of  a 
certainty,  if  her  health  continues  to  improve 
—  five  years  of  skillful  teaching  will  make 
her  —  what  it  will  make  her  no  one  can 


170  MARM  LISA. 

prophesy,  but  it  is  sure  to  be  something 
worth  working  for.  No  doubt  I  can  get  the 
money  by  a  public  appeal,  and  if  it  were 
for  a  dozen  children  instead  of  one,  I  would 
willingly  do  it,  as  indeed  I  have  done  it 
many  times  in  the  past. 

"That  was  a  beautiful  thought  of  Pastor 
Von  Bodelschwingh,  of  the  Colony  of  Mercy 
in  Germany.  '  Mr.  Man '  told  me  about 
him  in  one  of  the  very  few  long  talks  we 
had  together.  He  had  a  home  for  adults 
and  children  of  ailing  mind  and  body,  and 
when  he  wanted  a  new  house  for  the  little 
ones,  and  there  was  no  money  to  build  or 
equip  it,  he  asked  every  parent  in  Germany 
for  a  thank-offering  to  the  Lord  of  one 
penny  for  each  well  child.  Within  a  short 
fortnight  four  hundred  thousand  pennies 
flowed  in,  —  four  hundred  thousand  thank- 
offerings  for  children  strong  and  well.  The 
good  pastor's  wish  was  realized,  and  his 
Baby  Castle  an  accomplished  fact.  Not 
only  did  the  four  hundred  thousand  pennies 
come,  but  the  appeal  for  them  stimulated  a 
new  sense  of  gratitude  among  all  the  parents 
who  responded,  so  that  there  came  pretty, 
touching  messages  from  all  sides,  such  as: 
4  Four  pennies  for  four  living  children ;  for 


MORE  LEAVES.  171 

a  child  in  heaven,  two.'  '  Six  pennies  for 
a  happy  home. '  '  One  penny  for  the  child 
we  never  had.'  '  Five  pennies  for  a  good 
wife.' 

"Ah!  never,  surely,  was  a  Baby  Castle 
framed  of  such  lovely  timber  as  this!  It 
seems  as  if  heaven's  sweet  air  must  play 
about  the  towers,  and  heaven's  sunshine 
stream  in  at  every  window,  of  a  house  built 
from  turret  to  foundation-stone  of  such 
royal  material.  The  Castle  might  look  like 
other  castles,  but  every  enchanted  brick  and 
stone  and  block  of  wood,  every  grain  of 
mortar,  every  bit  of  glass  and  marble,  un 
like  all  others  of  its  kind,  would  be  trans 
formed  by  the  thought  it  represented  and 
thrilled  with  the  message  it  bore. 

"Such  an  appeal  I  could  make  for  my 
whole  great  family,  but  somehow  this  seems 
almost  a  private  matter,  and  I  am  sensitive 
about  giving  it  publicity.  My  love  and 
hope  for  Lisa  are  so  great  I  cannot  bear  to 
describe  her  '  case, '  nor  paint  her  unhappy 
childhood  in  the  hues  it  deserves,  for  the 
sake  of  gaining  sympathy  and  aid.  I  may 
have  to  do  it,  but  would  I  were  the  little 
Croesus  of  a  day !  Still,  Christmas  is  com 
ing,  and  who  knows? 


172  MARM  LISA. 

'  Everywhere  the  Feast  o'  the  Babe, 
Joy  upon  earth,  peace  and  good- will  to  men  ! 
We  are  baptized.' 

Merry  Christmas  is  coming.  Everybody's 
hand-grasp  is  warmer  because  of  it,  though 
of  course  it  is  the  children  whose  merriment 
rings  truest. 

"There  are  just  one  or  two  things,  grown 
up  as  I  am,  that  I  should  like  to  find  in  the 
toe  of  my  stocking  on  Christmas  morning; 
only  they  are  impalpable  things  that  could 
neither  be  put  in  nor  taken  out  of  real 
stockings. 

"Old  as  we  are,  we  are  most  of  us  mere 
children  in  this,  that  we  go  on  hoping  that 
next  Christmas  all  the  delicious  happenings 
we  have  missed  in  other  Christmases  may 
descend  upon  us  by  the  old  and  reliable 
chimney  route!  A  Santa  Claus  that  had 
any  bowels  of  compassion  would  rush  down 
the  narrowest  and  sootiest  chimney  in  the 
world  to  give  me  my  simple  wishes.  It 
is  n't  as  if  I  were  petitioning  nightly  for  a 
grand  house,  a  yacht,  a  four-in-hand,  a  dia 
mond  necklace,  and  a  particular  man  for  a 
husband;  but  I  don't  see  that  modesty  finds 
any  special  favor  with  St.  Nick.  Now  and 
then  I  harbor  a  rascally  suspicion  that  he 


MORE   LEAVES.  173 

is  an  indolent,  time-serving  person,  who 
slips  down  the  widest,  cleanest  chimneys  to 
the  people  who  clamor  the  loudest ;  but  this 
abominable  cynicism  melts  into  thin  air  the 
moment  that  I  look  at  his  jolly  visage  on 
the  cover  of  a  picture-book.  Dear,  fat, 
rosy,  radiant  Being!  Surely  he  is  inca 
pable  of  any  but  the  highest  motives !  I  am 
twenty-eight  years  old,  but  age  shall  never 
make  any  difference  in  the  number  or  extent 
of  my  absurdities.  I  am  going  to  write  a 
letter  and  send  it  up  the  chimney !  It  never 
used  to  fail  in  the  long-ago;  but  ah!  then 
there  were  two  dear,  faithful  go-betweens  to 
interpret  my  childish  messages  of  longing 
to  Santa  Glaus,  and  jog  his  memory  at  the 
critical  time!  " 


XV. 

"THE  FEAST  o'  THE  BABE." 

IT  was  sure  to  be  a  green  Christmas  in 
that  sunny  land,  but  not  the  sort  of  "green 
Yule"  that  makes  the  "fat  kirkyard."  If 
the  New  Englanders  who  had  been  trans 
planted  to  that  shore  of  the  Pacific  ever 
longed  for  a  bracing  snowstorm,  for  frost 
pictures  on  the  window-panes,  for  the  breath 
of  a  crystal  air  blown  over  ice-fields,  - —  an 
air  that  nipped  the  ears,  but  sent  the  blood 
coursing  through  the  veins,  and  made  the 
turkey  and  cranberry  sauce  worth  eating,  — 
the  happy  children  felt  no  lack,  and  basked 
contentedly  in  the  soft  December  sunshine. 
Still  farther  south  there  were  mothers  who 
sighed  even  more  for  the  sound  of  merry 
sleigh-bells,  the  snapping  of  logs  on  the 
hearth,  the  cosy  snugness  of  a  firelit  room 
made  all  the  snugger  by  the  fierce  wind 
without;  that,  if  you  like,  was  a  place  to 
hang  a  row  of  little  red  and  brown  woolen 
stockings!  And  when  the  fortunate  chil- 


THE  FEAST  0'  THE  BABE.     175 

dren  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  Eockies, 
tired  with  resisting  the  Sand  Man,  had 
snuggled  under  the  great  down  comforters 
and  dropped  off  to  sleep,  they  dreamed,  of 
course,  of  the  proper  Christmas  things,  — 
of  the  tiny  feet  of  reindeer  pattering  over 
the  frozen  crust,  the  tinkle  of  silver  bells 
on  their  collars,  the  real  Santa  Glaus  with 
icicles  in  his  beard,  with  red  cheeks,  and  a 
cold  nose,  and  a  powder  of  snow  on  his 
bearskin  coat,  and  with  big  fur  mittens 
never  too  clumsy  to  take  the  toys  from  his 
pack. 

Here  the  air  blew  across  orange  groves 
and  came  laden  with  the  sweetness  of  open 
ing  buds;  here,  if  it  were  a  sunny  Christ 
mas  Day,  as  well  it  might  be,  the  children 
came  in  to  dinner  tired  with  playing  in  the 
garden:  but  the  same  sort  of  joyous  cries 
that  rent  the  air  three  thousand  miles  away 
at  sight  of  hot  plum  pudding  woke  the 
echoes  here  because  of  fresh  strawberries 
and  loquats;  and  although,  in  the  minds  of 
the  elders,  who  had  been  born  in  snowdrifts 
and  bred  upon  icicles,  this  union  of  balmy 
air,  singing  birds,  and  fragrant  bloom  might 
strike  a  false  note  at  Christmastide,  it 
brought  nothing  but  joy  to  the  children. 


176  HARM  LISA. 

After  all,  if  it  were  not  for  old  association's 
sake,  it  would  seem  that  one  might  fitly 
celebrate  the  birthday  of  the  Christ-child 
under  sunshine  as  warm  and  skies  of  the 
same  blue  as  those  that  sheltered  the  heav 
enly  Babe  in  old  Judea. 

During  the  late  days  of  October  and  the 
early  days  of  November  the  long  drought  of 
summer  had  been  broken,  and  it  had  rained 
steadily,  copiously,  refreshingly.  Since 
then  there  had  been  day  after  day  of  bril 
liant,  cloudless  sunshine,  and  the  moist 
earth,  warmed  gratefully  through  to  the 
marrow,  stirred  and  trembled  and  pushed 
forth  myriads  of  tender  shoots  from  the 
seeds  that  were  hidden  in  its  bosom;  and 
the  tender  shoots  themselves  looked  up  to 
the  sun,  and,  with  their  roots  nestled  in 
sweet,  fragrant  beds  of  richness,  thought 
only  of  growing  tall  and  green,  dreamed 
only  of  the  time  when  pink  pimpernels 
would  bloom  between  their  waving  blades, 
and  when  tribes  of  laughing  children  would 
come  to  ramble  over  the  hillsides.  The 
streets  of  the  city  were  full  of  the  fragrance 
of  violets,  for  the  flower -venders  had  great 
baskets  of  them  over  their  arms,  and  on 
every  corner  tempted  the  passers-by  with 


THE  FEAST  0'  THE  BABE.     177 

the  big  odorous  purple  bunches  that  offered 
a  royal  gift  of  sweetness  for  every  penny 
invested. 

Atlantic  and  Pacific  Simonson  had  pre 
viously  known  little,  and  Marm  Lisa  less, 
of  Christmas  time,  but  the  whole  month  of 
December  in  Mistress  Mary's  garden  was 
a  continual  feast  of  the  new-born  Babe. 
There  was  an  almost  oppressive  atmosphere 
of  secrecy  abroad.  Each  family  of  chil 
dren,  working  in  the  retirement  of  its  par 
ticular  corner,  would  shriek,  "Oh,  don't 
come!"  and  hide  small  objects  under  pina 
fores  and  tables  when  Mary,  Ehoda,  Edith, 
or  Helen  appeared.  The  neophyte  in  charge 
was  always  in  the  attitude  of  a  surprised 
hen,  extending  her  great  apron  to  its  utmost 
area  as  a  screen  to  hide  these  wonderful 
preparations.  Edith's  group  was  slaving 
over  Helen's  gift,  Rhoda's  over  Edith's, 
and  so  on,  while  all  the  groups  had  some 
marvelous  bit  of  cooperative  work  in  hand 
for  Mistress  Mary.  At  the  afternoon  coun 
cil,  the  neophytes  were  obliged  to  labor  con 
scientiously  on  presents  destined  for  them 
selves,  rubbing  off  stains,  disentangling 
knots,  joining  threads,  filling  up  wrong 
holes  and  punching  right  ones,  surrepti- 


178  HARM   LISA. 

tiously  getting  the  offerings  of  love  into  a 
condition  where  the  energetic  infants  could 
work  on  them  again.  It  was  somewhat 
difficult  to  glow  and  pale  with  surprise  when 
they  received  these  well-known  and  well- 
worn  trophies  of  skill  from  the  tree  at  the 
proper  time,  but  they  managed  to  achieve 
it. 

Never  at  any  other  season  was  there  such 
scrubbing  of  paws,  and  in  spite  of  the  most 
devoted  sacrifices  to  the  Moloch  of  cleanli 
ness  the  excited  little  hands  grew  first  moist, 
and  then  grimy,  nobody  knew  how.  "It 
must  leak  out  of  the  inside  of  me,"  wailed 
Bobby  Baxter  when  sent  to  the  pump  for 
the  third  time  one  morning;  but  he  went 
more  or  less  cheerfully,  for  his  was  the 
splendid  honor  of  weaving  a  frame  for  Lisa's 
picture,  and  he  was  not  the  man  to  grudge 
an  inch  or  two  of  skin  if  thereby  he  might 
gain  a  glorious  immortality. 

The  principal  conversation  during  this 
festival  time  consisted  of  phrases  like:  "I 
know  what  you  're  goin'  to  have,  Miss 
Edith,  but  I  won't  tell!"  "Miss  Mary, 
Sally  'most  told  Miss  Rhoda  what  she  was 
makin'  for  her."  "Miss  Helen,  Pat  Hig- 
gins  went  right  up  to  Miss  Edith  and  asked 


THE  FEAST  0'  THE  BABE.     179 

her  to  help  him  mend  the  leg  of  his  clay 
frog,  and  it's  his  own  Christmas  present 
for  her!" 

The  children'  could  not  for  the  life  of 
them  play  birds,  or  butterflies,  or  carpenter, 
or  scissors-grinder,  for  they  wanted  to  shout 
the  livelong  day,  — 

"  Christmas  bells  are  ringing  sweet, 
We  too  the  happy  day  must  greet ;  " 

or,  — 

"  Under  the  holly,  now, 

Sing  and  be  jolly,  now, 
Christmas  has  come  and  the  children  are  glad ;  " 

or,  - 

"  Hurrah  for  Santa  Glaus ! 
Long  may  he  live  at  his  castle  in  Somewhere-land ! 

There  was  much  whispering  and  discus 
sion  about  evergreens  and  garlands  and 
wreaths  that  were  soon  to  come,  and  much 
serious  planning  with  regard  to  something 
to  be  made  for  mother,  father,  sister,  bro 
ther,  and  the  baby;  something,  too,  now 
and  then,  for  a  grandpapa  in  Sweden,  a 
grandmamma  in  Scotland,  a  Norwegian 
uncle,  an  Irish  aunt,  and  an  Italian  cousin ; 
but  there  was  never  by  chance  any  cogita 
tion  as  to  what  the  little  workers  themselves 
might  get.  In  the  happier  homes  among 
them,  there  was  doubtless  the  usual  legiti- 


180  MARM  LISA. 

mate  speculation  as  to  doll  or  drum,  but 
here  in  this  enchanted  spot,  this  material 
ized  Altruria,  the  talk  was  all  of  giving, 
when  the  Wonderful  Tree  bloomed  in  their 
midst,  —  the  Wonderful  Tree  they  sang 
about  every  morning,  with  the  sweet  voice 

"  telling-  its  branches  among 
Of  shepherd's  watch  and  of  angel's  song, 
Of  lovely  Babe  in  manger  low,  — 
The  beautiful  story  of  long  ago, 
When  a  radiant  star  threw  its  beams  so  wide 
To  herald  the  earliest  Christmastide." 

The  Tree  was  coming,  — -  Mistress  Mary 
said  so ;  and  bless  my  heart,  you  might  pos 
sibly  meddle  with  the  revolution  of  the  earth 
around  the  sun,  or  induce  some  weak-minded 
planet  to  go  the  wrong  way,  but  you  would 
be  helpless  to  reverse  one  of  Mistress  Mary's 
promises!  They  were  as  fixed  and  as  un 
changeable  as  the  laws  of  the  Medes  and 
Persians,  and  there  was  a  record  of  their 
fulfillment  indelibly  written  in  the  memories 
of  two  hundred  small  personages,  — person 
ages  in  whom  adult  caprice  and  flexibility  of 
conduct  had  bred  a  tendency  to  suspicion. 

The  Tree,  therefore,  had  been  coming  for 
a  fortnight,  and  on  the  22d  it  came !  Nei 
ther  did  it  come  alone,  for  it  was  accompa 
nied  by  a  forest  of  holly  and  mistletoe,  and 


THE  FEAST  0'  THE  BABE.     181 

ropes  of  evergreen,  and  wreaths  and  gar 
lands  of  laurel,  and  green  stars  by  the 
dozen.  And  in  a  great  box,  at  present  hid 
den  from  the  children,  were  heaps  of  can 
dles,  silver  and  crystal  baubles,  powdered 
snowflakes,  glass  icicles,  gilded  nuts,  party- 
colored  spheres,  cornucopias  full  of  goodies, 
and,  above  all,  two  wonderful  Christmas 
angels  and  a  snow-white  dove ! 

Neither  tree,  nor  garlands,  nor  box  con 
tained  any  hint  of  the  donor,  to  the  great 
disappointment  of  the  neophytes.  Rhoda 
had  an  idea,  for  Cupid  had  "clapped  her  i' 
the  shoulder,"  and  her  intuitions  were  pre- 
ternaturally  keen  just  now.  Mary  almost 
knew,  though  she  had  never  been  in  love 
in  her  life,  and  her  faculties  were  working 
only  in  their  every-day  fashion ;  but  she  was 
not  in  the  least  surprised  when  she  drew  a 
letter  from  under  the  white  dove's  wing. 
Seeing  that  it  was  addressed  to  her,  she 
waited  until  everybody  had  gone,  and  sat 
under  the  pepper-tree  in  the  deserted  play 
ground  where  she  might  read  it  in  solitude. 

"DEAR  MISTRESS  MARY,"  it  said,  "do 
you  care  to  hear  of  my  life? 

4  Das  Ewig-Weibliche 
Zieht  uns  hinan,' 


182  HARM  LISA. 

and  I  am  growing  olives.  Do  you  remem 
ber  what  the  Spanish  monk  said  to  the  tree 
that  he  pruned,  and  that  cried  out  under  his 
hook  ?  '  It  is  not  beauty  that  is  wanted  of 
you,  nor  shade,  but  olives.'  The  sun  is 
hot,  and  it  has  not  rained  for  many  a  long 
week,  it  seems  to  me,  but  the  dew  of  your 
influence  falls  ever  sweet  and  fresh  on  the 
dust  of  my  daily  task. 

"Inclosed  please  find  the  wherewithal  for 
Lisa's  next  step  higher.  As  she  needs  more 
it  will  come.  I  give  it  for  sheer  gratitude, 
as  the  good  folk  gave  their  pennies  to  Pas 
tor  Von  Bodelschwingh.  Why  am  I  grate 
ful  ?  For  your  existence,  to  be  sure !  I  had 
lived  my  life  haunted  by  the  feeling  that 
there  was  such  a  woman,  and  finally  the 
mysterious  wind  of  destiny  blew  me  to  her, 
'  as  the  tempest  brings  the  rose-tree  to  the 
pollard  willow.' 

"Do  not  be  troubled  about  me,  little 
mother-of -many !  There  was  once  upon  a 
time  a  common  mallow  by  the  roadside,  and 
being  touched  by  Mohammed's  garment  as 
he  passed  it  was  changed  at  once  into  a 
geranium;  and  best  of  all,  it  remained  a 
geranium  forever  after. 

"YouR  SOLITARY." 


XVI. 

CLEANSING   FIKES. 

IT  was  the  afternoon  of  the  day  before 
Christmas,  and  all  the  little  people  had  gone 
home,  leaving  the  room  vacant  for  the  deck 
ing  of  the  Wonderful  Tree.  Edith,  Helen, 
and  others  were  perched  on  step-ladders, 
festooning  garlands  and  wreaths  from  win 
dow  to  window,  and  post  to  post.  Mary 
and  Khoda  were  hanging  burdens  of  joy 
among  the  green  branches  of  the  tree. 

The  room  began  to  look  more  and  more 
lovely  as  the  evergreen  stars  were  hung  by 
scarlet  ribbons  in  each  of  the  twelve  win 
dows,  and  the  picture-frames  were  crowned 
with  holly  branches.  Then  Mistress  Mary 
was  elevated  to  a  great  height  on  a  pyramid 
of  tables  and  chairs,  and  suspended  the  two 
Christmas  angels  by  invisible  wires  from 
the  ceiling.  When  the  chorus  of  admira 
tion  had  subsided,  she  took  the  white  dove 
tenderly  from  Rhoda's  upstretched  hands 
(and  what  a  charming  Christmas  picture 


HARM 

they  made,  —  the  eager  upturned  rosy  face 
of  the  one,  the  gracious  fairness  of  the 
other!)  and  laying  its  soft  breast  against 
her  cheek  for  a  moment,  perched  it  on  the 
topmost  branch  of  waving  green  with  a 
thought  of  "Mr.  Man,"  and  a  hope  that 
the  blessed  day  might  bring  him  a  tithe  of 
the  cheer  he  had  given  them.  The  effect  of 
the  dove  and  the  angels  was  so  electrical 
that  all  the  fresh  young  voices  burst  into 
the  chorus  of  the  children's  hymn:  — 

He  was  born  upon  this  day 
In  David's  town  so  far  away, 
He  the  good  and  loving  One, 
Mary's  ever-blessed  Son. 
Let  us  all  our  voices  lend, 
For  He  was  the  children's  Friend, 
He  so  lovely,  He  so  mild, 
Jesus,  blessed  Christmas  Child  ! 

As  the  last  line  of  the  chorus  floated 
through  the  open  windows,  an  alarm  of 
fire  sounded,  followed  by  a  jangle  of  bells 
and  a  rumble  of  patrol  wagons.  On  going 
to  the  west  window,  Edith  saw  a  blaze  of 
red  light  against  the  sky,  far  in  the  dis 
tance,  in  the  direction  of  Lone  Mountain. 
Soon  after,  almost  on  the  heels  of  the  first, 
came  another  alarm,  with  its  attendant 
clangings,  its  cries  of  "Fire!"  its  chatter- 


CLEANSING   FIRES.  185 

ings  and  conjectures,  its  rushing  of  small 
boys  in  all  directions,  its  tread  of  hurrying 
policemen,  its  hasty  flinging  up  of  windows 
and  grouping  of  heads  therein. 

The  girls  were  too  busy  labeling  the  chil 
dren's  gifts  to  listen  attentively  to  the  con 
fused   clamor   in   the    streets,  —  fires  were 
common  enough  in   a  city  built  of  wood; 
but  when,  half  an  hour  after  the  first  and 
second  alarms,  a  third  sounded,  they  con 
cluded  it  must  be  a  conflagration,  and  Rhoda, 
dropping  her  nuts  and  cornucopias,  ran  to 
the  corner  for  news.     She  was  back  again 
almost  immediately,  excited  and  breathless. 
"Oh,  Mary!"  she  exclaimed,  her   hand 
on  her  panting  side,  "unless  they  are  mis 
taken,  it  is  three  separate  fires :  one,  a  livery- 
stable  and  carriage -house  out  towards  Lone 
Mountain ;  another  fearful  one  on  Telegraph 
Hill,  —  a  whole  block  of  houses,  and  they 
haven't  had  enough  help  there  because  of 
the  Lone  Mountain  fire;  now  there  's  a  third 
alarm,  and  they  say  it's  at  the  corner  of 
Sixth  and  Dutch  streets.     If  it  is,  we  have 
a   tenement   house   next   door;    isn't   that 
clothing-place  on  the  corner?     Yes,  I  know 
it  is;    make  haste!     Edith  and  Helen  will 
watch  the  Christmas  things." 


186  HARM  LISA. 

Mary  did  not  need  to  be  told  to  hasten. 
She  had  her  hat  in  her  hand  and  was  on  the 
sidewalk  before  Ehoda  had  fairly  finished 
her  sentence. 

They  hurried  through  the  streets,  guided 
by  the  cloud  of  smoke  that  gushed  from  the 
top  of  a  building  in  the  near  distance.  Al 
most  everybody  was  running  in  the  opposite 
direction,  attracted  by  the  Telegraph  Hill 
fire  that  flamed  vermilion  and  gold  against 
the  gray  sky,  looking  from  its  elevation  like 
a  mammoth  bonfire,  or  like  a  hundred  sun 
sets  massed  in  one  lurid  pile  of  color. 

"Is  it  the  Golden  Gate  tenement  house?" 
they  asked  of  the  neighborhood  locksmith, 
who  was  walking  rapidly  towards  them. 

"No,  it 's  the  coat  factory  next  door,"  he 
answered,  hurriedly.  "'T  would  n't  be  so 
much  of  a  blaze  if  they  could  get  the  fire 
company  here  to  put  it  out  before  it  gets 
headway;  but  it's  one  o'  those  blind  fires 
that 's  been  sizzling  away  inside  the  walls 
for  an  hour.  The  folks  didn't  know  they 
was  afire  till  a  girl  ran  in  and  told  'em,  — 
your  Lisa  it  was,  — and  they  didn't  believe 
her  at  first;  but  it  war  n't  a  minute  before 
the  flames  burst  right  through  the  plastering 
in  half  a  dozen  places  to  once.  I  tell  you 


CLEANSING   FIRES.  187 

they  just  dropped  everything  where  it  was 
and  run  for  their  lives.  There  war  n't  but 
one  man  on  the  premises,  and  he  was  such 
a  blamed  fool  he  wasted  five  minutes  trying 
to  turn  the  alarm  into  the  letter-box  on  the 
lamp -post,  'stead  of  the  right  one  alongside. 
I  'm  going  home  for  some  tools  —  Hullo ! 
there  's  the  flames  coming  through  one  cor 
ner  o'  the  roof;  that's  the  last  o'  the  fac 
tory,  I  guess;  but  it  ain't  much  loss,  any 
way;  it 's  a  reg'lar  sweatin'-shop.  They  '11 
let  it  go  now,  and  try  to  save  the  buildings 
each  side  of  it,  — that 's  what  they  '11  do." 

That  is  what  they  were  doing  when  Mary 
and  Rhoda  broke  away  from  the  voluble 
locksmith  in  the  middle  of  his  discourse  and 
neared  the  scene  of  excitement.  The  fire 
men  had  not  yet  come,  though  it  was  ru 
mored  that  a  detachment  was  on  the  way. 
All  the  occupants  of  the  tenement  house 
were  taking  their  goods  and  chattels  out,  — 
running  down  the  narrow  stairways  with 
feather-beds,  dropping  clocks  and  china 
ornaments  from  the  windows,  and  endanger 
ing  their  lives  by  crawling  down  the  fire- 
escapes  with  small  articles  of  no  value. 
Men  were  scarce  at  that  hour  in  that  local 
ity,  but  there  was  a  good  contingent  of 


188  HARM  LISA. 

small  shopkeepers  and  gentlemen-of -steady- 
leisure,  who  were  on  the  roof  pouring  water 
over  wet  blankets  and  comforters  and  car 
pets.  A  crazy -looking  woman  in  the  fourth 
story  kept  dipping  a  child's  handkerchief  in 
and  out  of  a  bowl  of  water  and  wrapping  it 
about  a  tomato-can  with  a  rosebush  planted 
in  it.  Another,  very  much  intoxicated, 
leaned  from  her  window,  and,  regarding  the 
whole  matter  as  an  agreeable  entertainment, 
called  down  humorous  remarks  and  ribald 
jokes  to  the  oblivious  audience.  There  was 
an  improvised  hook-and-ladder  company 
pouring  water  where  it  was  least  needed, 
and  a  zealous  self-appointed  commanding 
officer  who  did  nothing  but  shout  contradic 
tory  orders;  but  as  nobody  obeyed  them, 
and  every  man  did  just  as  he  was  inclined, 
it  did  not  make  any  substantial  difference 
in  the  result. 

Mary  and  Rhoda  made  their  way  through 
the  mass  of  interested  spectators,  not  so 
many  here  as  on  the  cooler  side  of  the 
street.  Where  was  Lisa?  That  was  the 
first,  indeed  the  only  question.  How  had 
she  come  there?  Where  had  she  gone? 
There  was  a  Babel  of  confusion,  but  nothing 
like  the  uproar  that  would  have  been  heard 


CLEANSING   FIRES.  189 

had  not  part  of  the  district's  population  fled 
to  the  more  interesting  fire,  and  had  not  the 
whole  thing  been  so  quiet  and  so  lightning- 
quick  in  its  progress.  The  whole  scene  now 
burst  upon  their  view.  A  few  harassed 
policemen  had  stretched  ropes  across  the 
street,  and  were  trying  to  keep  back  the 
rebellious  ones  in  the  crowd  who  ever  and 
anon  would  struggle  under  the  line  and  have 
to  be  beaten  back  by  force. 

As  Mary  and  Rhoda  approached,  a  group 
on  the  outskirts  cried  out,  "Here  she  is! 
'T  ain't  more  'n  a  minute  sence  they  went  to 
tell  her !  Here  she  is  now !  " 

The  expected  fire  brigade  could  hardly 
be  called  "she,"  Mary  thought,  as  she 
glanced  over  her  shoulder.  She  could  see 
no  special  reason  for  any  interest  in  her  own 
movements.  She  took  advantage  of  the 
parting  of  the  crowd,  however,  and  as  she 
made  her  way  she  heard,  as  in  a  waking 
dream,  disjointed  sentences  that  had  no 
meaning  at  first,  but  being  pieced  together 
grew  finally  into  an  awful  whole. 

"Why  didn't  the  factory  girls  bring  'em 
out?  Did  n't  know  they  was  there  ?  " 

"Say,  one  of  'em  was  saved,  war  n't  it?" 

"  Which  one  of  'em  did  she  get  down 
before  the  roof  caught?  " 


190  MARM  LISA. 

"No,  't ain't  no  such  thing;  the  mana 
ger  's  across  the  bay;  she  gave  the  alarm 
herself." 

"She  didn't  know  they  was  in  there;  I 
bet  yer  they  'd  run  and  hid,  and  she  was 
hunting  'em  when  she  seen  the  smoke." 

"  Yes,  she  did ;  she  dropped  the  girl  twin 
out  the  second-story  window  into  Abe  Isaac's 
arms,  but  she  did  n't  know  the  boy  was  in 
the  building  till  just  now,  and  they  can't 
hardly  hold  her." 

"She  's  foolish,  anyhow,  ain't  she?  " 

Mary  staggered  beyond  Rhoda  to  the 
front  of  the  crowd. 

"Let  me  under  the  rope!"  she  cried, 
with  a  mother's  very  wail  in  her  tone,  — 
"let  me  under  the  rope,  for  God's  sake! 
They  're  my  children !  " 

At  this  moment  she  heard  a  stentorian 
voice  call  to  some  one,  "  Wait  a  minute  till 
the  firemen  get  here,  and  they  '11  go  for 
him!  Come  back,  girl,  d — n  you!  you 
shan't  go!" 

"Wait?  No!  Not  wait!"  cried  Lisa, 
tearing  herself  dexterously  from  the  police 
man's  clutches,  and  dashing  like  a  whirl 
wind  up  the  tottering  stairway  before  any 
one  else  could  gather  presence  of  mind  to 
seize  and  detain  her. 


CLEANSING   FIRES.  191 

Pacific  was  safe  on  the  pavement,  but  she 
had  only  a  moment  before  been  flung  from 
those  flaming  windows,  and  her  terrified 
shrieks  rent  the  air.  The  crowd  gave  a 
long-drawn  groan,  and  mothers  turned  their 
eyes  away  and  shivered.  Nobody  followed 
Marm  Lisa  up  that  flaming  path  of  death 
and  duty :  it  was  no  use  flinging  a  good  life 
after  a  worthless  one. 

"Fool!  crazy  fool!"  people  ejaculated, 
with  tears  of  reverence  in  their  eyes. 

"Darling,  splendid  fool!"  cried  Mary. 
"Fool  worth  all  the  wise  ones  among  us! " 

"He  that  loseth  his  life  for  my  sake  shall 
find  it!"  said  a  pious  Methodist  cobbler 
with  a  patched  boot  under  his  arm. 

In  the  eternity  of  waiting  that  was  num 
bered  really  but  in  seconds,  a  burly  police 
man  beckoned  four  men  and  gave  them  a 
big  old-fashioned  counterpane  that  some  one 
had  offered,  telling  them  to  stand  ready  for 
whatever  might  happen. 

"Come  closer,  boys,"  said  one  of  them, 
wetting  his  hat  in  a  tub  of  water :  "  if  we 
take  a  little  scorchin'  doin'  this  now,  we 
may  git  it  cooler  in  the  next  world!  " 

"Amen!  Trust  the  Lord!"  said  the 
cobbler;  and  just  then  Marm  Lisa  appeared 


192  MAEM  LISA. 

at  one  of  the  top  windows  with  a  child  in 
her  arms.  No  one  else  could  have  recog 
nized  Atlantic  in  the  smoke,  but  Rhoda  and 
Mary  knew  the  round  cropped  head  and  the 
familiar  blue  gingham  apron. 

Lisa  stood  in  the  empty  window-frame,  a 
trembling  figure  on  a  background  of  flame. 
Her  post  was  not  at  the  moment  in  absolute 
danger.  There  was  hope  yet,  though  to  the 
onlookers  there  seemed  none. 

"Throw  him !  "  "Drop  him !  "  "Le'  go 
of  him!  "  shouted  the  crowd. 

"Hold  your  jaws,  and  let  me  do  the  talk 
ing!"  roared  the  policeman.  "Stop  your 
noise,  if  you  don't  want  two  dead  children 
on  your  consciences!  Keep  back,  you 
brutes,  keep  back  o'  the  rope,  or  I  '11  club 
you!" 

It  was  not  so  much  the  officer's  threats 
as  simple,  honest  awe  that  caused  a  sudden 
hush  to  fall.  There  were  whispering,  sighs, 
tears,  murmurings,  but  all  so  subdued  that 
it  seemed  like  silence  in  the  midst  of  the 
fierce  crackling  of  the  flames. 

"Drop  him!  We'll  ketch  him  in  the 
quilt!"  called  the  policeman,  standing  as 
near  as  he  dared. 

Lisa  looked  shudderingly  at  the  desperate 


CLEANSING   FIRES.  193 

means  of  salvation  so  far  below,  and,  turn 
ing  her  face  away  as  much  as  she  could, 
unclasped  her  arms  despairingly,  and  Atlan 
tic  came  swooping  down  from  their  shelter, 
down,  down  into  the  counterpane ;  stunned, 
stifled,  choked  by  smoke,  but  uninjured,  as 
Lisa  knew  by  the  cheers  that  greeted  his 
safe  descent. 

A  tongue  of  fire  curled  round  the  corner 
of  the  building  and  ran  up  to  the  roof  to 
wards  another  that  was  licking  its  way  along 
the  top  of  the  window. 

"Jump  now  yourself!  "  called  the  police 
man,  while  two  more  men  silently  joined 
the  four  holding  the  corners  of  the  quilt. 
Every  eye  was  fixed  on  the  motionless  figure 
of  Marm  Lisa,  who  had  drawn  her  shawl 
over  her  head,  as  if  just  conscious  of  nearer 
heat. 

The  wind  changed,  and  blew  the  smoke 
away  from  her  figure.  The  men  on  the 
roof  stopped  work,  not  caring  for  the  mo 
ment  whether  they  sa,ved  the  tenement  house 
or  not,  since  a  human  life  was  hanging  in 
the  balance.  The  intoxicated  woman  threw 
a  beer-bottle  into  the  street,  and  her  son  ran 
up  from  the  crowd  and  locked  her  safely  in 
her  kitchen  at  the  back  of  the  house. 


194 


MARM  LISA. 


"Jump  this  minute,  or  you're  a  dead 
girl!  "  shouted  the  officer,  hoarse  with  emo 
tion.  "God  A'mighty,  she  ain't  goin'  to 
jump, —she's  terror-struck!  She'll  burn 
right  there  before  our  eyes,  when  we  could 
climb  up  and  drag  her  down  if  we  had  a 
long  enough  ladder!" 

"They've  found  another  ladder,  and  are 
tying  two  together,"  somebody  said. 

"The  fire  company's  comin' !  I  hear 
'em!  "  cried  somebody  else. 

"They'll  be  too  late,"  moaned  Rhoda, 
"too  late !  Oh,  Mary,  make  her  jump !  " 

Lisa  had  felt  no  fear  while  she  darted 
through  smoke  and  over  charred  floors  in 
pursuit  of  Atlantic,  —  no  fear,  nothing  but 
joy  when  she  dragged  him  out  from  under 
a  bench  and  climbed  to  the  window-sill  with 
him,  —  but  now  that  he  was  saved  she  seemed 
paralyzed.  So  still  she  was  she  might  have 
been  a  carven  statue  save  for  the  fluttering 
of  the  garments  about  her  thin  childish  legs. 
The  distance  to  the  ground  looked  impassa 
ble,  and  she  could  not  collect  her  thoughts 
for  the  hissing  of  the  flame  as  it  ate  up  the 
floor  in  the  room  behind  her.  Horrible  as 
it  was,  she  thought  it  would  be  easier  to  let 
it  steal  behind  her  and  wrap  her  in  its  burn- 


CLEANSING   FIRES.  195 

ing  embrace  than  to  drop  from  these  dizzy 
heights  down  through  that  terrible  distance 
to  hear  her  own  bones  snap  as  she  touched 
the  quilt,  and  to  see  her  own  blood  staining 
the  ground. 

44  She  '11  burn,  sure,"  said  a  man.  "  Well, 
she  's  half  witted,  —  that 's  one  comfort !  " 

Mary  started  as  if  she  were  stung,  and 
forced  her  way  still  nearer  to  the  window, 
hoping  to  gain  a  position  where  she  could 
be  more  plainly  seen. 

Everybody  thought  something  was  going 
to  happen.  Mary  had  dozens  of  friends  and 
more  acquaintances  in  that  motley  assem 
blage,  and  they  somehow  felt  that  there 
were  dramatic  possibilities  in  the  situation. 
Unless  she  could  think  of  something,  Marm 
Lisa's  last  chance  was  gone:  that  was  the 
sentiment  of  the  crowd,  and  Mary  agreed 
in  it. 

Her  cape  had  long  since  dropped  from 
her  shoulders,  her  hat  was  trampled  under 
foot,  the  fair  coil  of  hair  had  loosened  and 
was  falling  on  her  neck,  and  the  steel  fillet 
blazed  in  the  firelight.  She  stepped  to  the 
quilt  and  made  a  despairing  movement  to 
attract  Lisa's  attention. 

"Li-sa!  "  she  called,  in  that  sweet,  carry- 


196  MARM  LISA. 

ing  woman's  voice  that  goes  so  much  farther 
than  a  man's. 

The  child  started,  and,  pushing  back  the 
shawl,  looked  out  from  under  its  cover,  her 
head  raised,  her  eyes  brightening. 

Mary  chanced  all  on  that  one  electrical 
moment  of  recognition,  and,  with  a  mien 
half  commanding  and  half  appealing,  she 
stretched  out  both  her  arms  and  called 
again,  while  the  crowd  held  its  breath: 
"  Come  to  me,  darling !  Jump,  little  sister ! 
Now!" 

Not  one  second  did  Marm  Lisa  hesitate. 
She  would  have  sprung  into  the  fire  at  that 
dear  mandate,  and,  closing  her  eyes,  she 
leaped  into  the  air  as  the  roof  above  her 
head  fell  in  with  a  crash. 

Just  then  the  beating  of  hoofs  and  jang 
ling  of  bells  in  the  distance  announced  the 
coming  of  the  belated  firemen;  not  so  long 
belated  actually,  for  all  the  emotions,  heart 
beats,  terrors,  and  despairs  that  go  to  make 
up  tragedy  can  be  lived  through  in  a  few 
brief  moments. 

In  that  sudden  plunge  from  window  to 
earth  Marm  Lisa  seemed  to  die  consciously. 
The  gray  world,  the  sad  world,  vanished, 
"and  the  immortal  light,  all  young  and  joy- 


CLEANSING   FIRES.  197 

ful,  million-orbed,  million -colored,"  beamed 
on  her  darkness.  She  kept  on  falling,  fall 
ing,  falling,  till  she  reached  the  abysmal 
depths  of  space,  —  then  she  knew  no  more : 
and  Mary,  though  prone  on  the  earth,  kept 
falling,  falling,  falling  with  her  into  so  deep 
a  swoon  that  she  woke  only  to  find  herself 
on  a  friendly  bed,  with  Khoda,  and  Lisa 
herself,  weeping  over  her. 

At  five  o'clock,  Mrs.  Grubb,  forcibly  torn 
from  a  meeting  and  acquainted  with  the  af 
ternoon's  proceedings,  hurried  into  a  lower 
room  in  the  tenement  house,  where  Mary, 
Khoda,  and  the  three  children  were  gathered 
for  a  time.  There  were  still  a  hundred 
people  in  the  street,  but  they  showed  their 
respect  by  keeping  four  or  five  feet  away 
from  the  windows. 

The  twins  sat  on  a  sofa,  more  quiet  than 
anything  save  death  itself.  They  had  been 
rocked  to  the  very  centre  of  their  being, 
and  looked  like  nothing  so  much  as  a  couple 
of  faded  photographs  of  themselves.  Lisa 
lay  on  a  cot,  sleeping  restlessly;  Mary 
looked  pale  and  wan,  and  there  were  dark 
circles  under  her  eyes. 

As  Mrs.  Grubb  opened  the  door  softly, 
Mary  rose  to  meet  her. 


198  MARM  LISA. 

"Have  you  heard  all?"  she  asked. 

"Yes,  everything!  "  faltered  Mrs.  Grubb, 
with  quivering  lips  and  downcast  eyelids. 

Mary  turned  towards  Lisa's  bed.  "Mrs. 
Grubb,"  she  said,  looking  straight  into  that 
lady's  clear,  shallow  eyes,  "I  think  Lisa 
has  earned  her  freedom,  and  I  the  right  to 
ask  a  Christmas  gift  of  you.  Stand  on  the 
other  side  of  the  cot,  and  put  your  hand  in 
mine.  I  ask  you  for  the  last  time,  will  you 
give  this  unfinished,  imperfect  life  into  my 
keeping,  if  I  promise  to  be  faithful  to  it 
unto  the  end,  whatever  it  may  be?  " 

I  suppose  that  every  human  creature,  be 
he  ever  so  paltry,  has  his  hour  of  effulgence, 
an  hour  when  the  mortal  veil  grows  thin  and 
the  divine  image  stands  revealed,  endowing 
him,  for  a  brief  space  at  least,  with  a  kind 
of  awful  beauty  and  majesty. 

It  was  Mistress  Mary's  hour.  Her  pure, 
unswerving  spirit  shone  with  a  white  and 
steady  radiance  that  illuminated  Mrs. 
Grubb 's  soul  to  its  very  depths,  showing 
her  in  a  flash  the  feeble  flickerings  and 
waverings  of  her  own  trivial  purposes.  At 
that  moment  her  eye  was  fitted  with  a  new 
lens,  through  which  the  road  to  the  summit 
of  the  Tehachapi  Mountains  and  Mahat- 


CLEANSING   FIRES.  199 

madom  suddenly  looked  long,  weary,  and 
profitless,  and  by  means  of  which  the  twins 
were  transferred  from  the  comfortable  mid 
dle  distance  they  had  previously  occupied  to 
the  immediate  foreground  of  duty.  The 
lens  might  slip,  but  while  it  was  in  place 
she  saw  as  clearly  as  another  woman. 

"Will   you?"   repeated  Mistress  Mary, 
wondering  at  her  silence. 

Mrs.  Grubb  gave  one  last  glance  at  the 
still  reproach  of  Lisa's  face,  and  one  more 
at  the  twins,  who  seemed  to  loom  more  for 
midably  each  time  she  regarded  them ;  then 
drawing  a  deep  breath,  she  said,  "Yes,  I 
will;  I  will,  no  matter  what  happens;  — 
but  it  isn't  enough  to  give  up,  and  you 
needn't  suppose  I  think  it  is."  And  tak 
ing  a  passive  twin  by  either  hand,  she  passed 
out  of  the  door  into  the  crowded  thorough 
fare,  and  disappeared  in  the  narrow  streets 
that  led  to  Eden  Place. 


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